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SunPower Solar Panels Chosen by Solar Decathlon Contenders

October 09, 2005 by Jeff Shepard

SunPower Corp. (Sunnyvale, CA), a silicon solar-cell company and a subsidiary of Cypress Semiconductor Corp., announced that its high-performance silicon solar-electric cells have been selected by two universities participating in the second Solar Decathlon to be held in Washington, DC, October 7-16, 2005. The Solar Decathlon is a US Department of Energy-sponsored competition in which teams of college and university students compete to design, build, and operate the most attractive, effective, and energy-efficient solar-powered home. The University of Colorado, champion of the 2002 Solar Decathlon, and the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University both selected SunPower’s high-efficiency solar cells for their power performance and sleek aesthetics.

This year, teams from 18 colleges and universities from the United States, Canada, and Spain will compete to see who can build and operate the best designed, most energy-efficient, solar-powered home. For two years, the teams worked on the design, research, and testing necessary to construct and power these homes. Starting October 7, 2005, the homes will be assembled as a "solar village" on the National Mall in Washington, DC. The public can tour the homes and take away valuable information about where to find solar power resources and how to apply them to existing or future homes. The teams will compete in 10 contests that will judge architecture, livability, comfort, and power generation for heating and cooling, water heating, and powering lights and appliances. Each solar house must also power an electric car.

"After substantial research, the student architects, engineers, and business managers at these universities selected SunPower’s high-efficiency solar panels to power their energy-efficient homes," said SunPower CEO Tom Werner. "Projects like this demonstrate that solar power can provide a sustainable solution for the country’s energy needs, while also becoming an attractive part of a home’s design."