SCU CCA Refract House US Department of Energy Solar Decathlon
Sunpower 225 Panels when they just arrived.
Sunpower 225 Panels when they just arrived.
This racking picture shows dialing in the right angle isn't easy.
This racking picture shows dialing in the right angle isn't easy.
Our solar panels installed.
Our solar panels installed.
Racking that is holding up the Solar Panels.
Racking that is holding up the Solar Panels.
One of our Two SunnyBoy inverters.
One of our Two SunnyBoy inverters.
technology  ::  Solar Electric  ::

Overview

The photovoltaic system has been designed around the theme of having a fully integrated looking solar roof that is visually appealing, while at the same time still maximizing energy harvest.

Photovoltaics

The solar panels that were chosen for the refract house is the Sunpower 225. This panel was chosen to be integrated into the house, mainly because of its highly efficiency of 18.1% with a peak output of 225 Watts. Furthermore, its all black finish along with the unique racking system, gives the appearance of our solar panels integrated into our roof rather than just an attachment to the house.

Inverters

The SMA Sunnyboy Inverters were chosen for the house because of its high efficiency inversion process. While we do need a large amount of solar panels, all this energy would be useless in the house if not for the inverters to convert that harvested energy to something we can use (from Direct Current generated by the panels to alternating current consumed by appliances). The SMA Sunnyboy inverters are one of the highest rated inverters out on the market today.

Main Circuit Breaker

The Powerlink G3 3000 Lighting Control Systems is the main circuit breaker that will be implemented into the house. The Powerlink has the potential for all circuits to be controlled through internet connections. Residents can easily access information about the lighting control system, and initiate overrides, allowing them to turn off unnecessary lights and cease vampire loads.

Solar Racking

Refract House's solar array is constructed in such a way to be unobtrusive to the overall look of the house. Using SolarMount rails and Unirac standoffs, the array spans all three separate modules of the house with one continuous plane. In order to do this, the panels were matched up to the edges of the building and the array angle was only raised to 10.5 degrees. The sides of the array are covered by a mostly opaque screen in order to hide all of the supports for our elevated array and provide the visual of a single roof.

Although the racking angle isn't optimal for energy generation, it shows that the panels were planned into the home's architecture rather than being an afterthought.