David Pogue published an article in yesterday’s Times entitled “The Future of Solar-Powered Homes.” Focused on the recent Solar Decathlon sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, he writes about many technologies students from around the world employed in building their solar homes. A few of the highlights include some pretty incredible shit:

These houses are completely “off the grid�—they’re not connected to the utility companies. Yet the teams have to live like normal Americans. Using only power from the sun, they have to keep the TV on six hours a day, run the computer five hours a day, cook meals, wash dishes, do two loads of laundry a week, take four 15-minute hot showers a week, keep the temperature between 70 and 78 degrees, maintain 40 to 60 percent humidity, and recharge an electric two-seater car.

My three favorite things:

In short, they have to prove that living on solar power does not involve sacrifice.

…

The University of Maryland team installed a wide, bookcase-sized, indoor waterfall—not just to soothe the soul, but to pull humidity out of the air. It was a desiccant solution—like the “Do not eat� packets that come in your electronics, but in liquid form—that absorbs moisture. Drier air inside means that you don’t need to run the air conditioner as much. The saturated waterfall flows out the bottom to an outdoor evaporator; the re-concentrated solution is pumped back in to the waterfall, and the cycle begins again.

The sheetrock of this home’s walls was infused with paraffin (candle wax). Why? To absorb heat and liquefy during the day, and then release the heat and re-solidify at night.

The full report to be broadcast 9 a.m. EST, “CBS News Sunday Morning.�

This entry was posted on Friday, November 2nd, 2007 at 9 am and is filed under must-read, save the planet, technology.