The close of the Spanish workday saw the team reach another milestone- the completion of the exterior layer on the bedroom module.  Trespa, a panelized cladding system, not only serves as the finished façade, but also provides the reflective surface necessary to fully utilized the Solyndra (cylindrical solar tubes) that make up a portion of the screen.  With Trespa on we are one step closer to being ready to compete. The team will be finishing the exterior on living module in the coming days. Currently, wiring for lighting is being installed and the home will be moved to the competition site on Monday, June 7.

In competition news, the Solar Decathlon Europe organizing committee announced today that two teams have dropped out of the competition. The team representing Mexico, the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, and Brazil’s consortium of schools both pulled out of the competition. Now only 17 teams will be competing in Madrid. This change demonstrates the incredible challenges that the teams face just competing, much less winning!

The team is excited to get the competition underway. Only 16 days to kickoff!

-UF Solar Decathlon Team

Photographs by Jake Landreneau