Santa Clara ninth so far in solar decathlon

By Johanna Mitchell

A first- and second-place finish in two categories propelled Santa Clara up to ninth place in the 2007 Solar Decathlon by Wednesday afternoon, as the competition reaches its final stretch in Washington D.C.

Santa Clara took first place in the hot water category, second place in the communications category and has made strong showings in ongoing comfort and appliances contests, which have allowed them to recover from a slow start that left the university in the bottom three on Monday.

The Bronco squad is no stranger to early setbacks. After breaking two axles before the semitruck bearing the home had even left campus, the team experienced yet another bump along the over 2,000-mile journey to the nation's capital when another two axles broke in Nebraska.

The house made a "fashionably late" arrival, student project manager James Bickford quipped in an interview with Blue Egg, an online news service that provides daily coverage of the competition. Santa Clara's team pulled into the construction site three days past its estimated arrival date.

But construction remained on schedule thanks to the large quantity of labor done before the home was shipped, and Santa Clara passed every Department of Energy inspection faster than many competitors, said Meghan Mooney, solar team communications coordinator.

About two dozen Santa Clara students are representing the small school from the West Coast on the international stage through tomorrow, flying their state flag with pride outside their mission-style "Ripple Home."

Competition began on Oct. 12 and will continue until the 2007 champion is crowned on Friday. Twenty teams from across the globe are using technical innovations to perform tasks devoted to using energy in daily living.

Santa Clara's first trip to the winners' podium Tuesday morning was a sigh of relief after a disappointing 18th place finish in the architecture contest on Monday, far behind the winning team from Darmstadt, Germany.

International competitors have been generally friendly, said Mooney.

For example, Santa Clara has developed a relationship of mutual assistance with neighboring house Puerto Rico.

On Tuesday evening, the Darmstadt team invited Santa Clara team members to a private gathering on their porch in thanks for equipment and assistance provided during construction.

Approximately 100,000 visitors trod the well-worn path through the National Mall last weekend, according to U.S. Department of Energy estimates.

Event-goers attended educational sessions on alternative energy sources and were led on tours of the solar homes by student tour guides.

"The overwhelming response we get is, 'Oh, I could actually live here,' " said Mooney, attributing the responses to the simple design elements that grace Santa Clara's solar home, unlike many of the other homes in the solar village that feature modern architecture.

"It's like the Sydney Opera House versus the house on the block," said Mooney, who said she has high hopes that the home's cozy atmosphere will give Santa Clara high marks in today's judging of the market viability category.

Though a win is not out of the team's grasp, Mooney said the team has another prize in their sights as well: the "People's Choice Award," sponsored by gasoline giant BP.

Contact Johanna Mitchell at (408) 554-4546 or jjmitchell@scu.edu.