This news release caught my eye. Cornell University participated in this year’s Solar Decathlon, a competition between 20 university teams given $100,000 to design, build, operate, and finally showcase a sustainable home of the future.

The Cornell University Solar Decathlon entrant – Silo House – made its debut last week at the New York State Fair in Syracuse, NY. The 800 square-foot home, which features INSTEON home automation technology controlling electrical and lighting applications, will be on display through Labor Day, before being shipped to Washington, DC for the contest in October along with the other 19 entries.

The Solar Decathlon Contest is comprised of 20 University based teams, each given $100,000 to showcase the design, build and operation of a home completely powered by solar energy. The event is a decathlon in that judges reward points in 10 different categories.

“We chose to go with INSTEON because it is very scalable, which meant we could count on it to adapt to a lot of technologies,” said Jeremy Blum, Cornell University team member. “Compared to more industrial solutions, INSTEON is very reasonably priced, meaning that it could be implemented in a consumer-aimed solar house. Part of the competition rates market viability, and having an easy-to-implement control system will be a big part of that.”

“We’re proud to have contributed to this project,” stated Laurie Maroni, Vice President of Marketing for Smarthome. “These students are pushing the envelope with regards to energy efficiency, renewable energy and solar technologies. We can only hope that their ideas and efforts support the ever-growing need for zero energy homes.”

“INSTEON devices allow us to save power by permitting the automation of lighting and electrical systems,” added Blum, “this is naturally important in a solar power house; in addition, the actual devices consume very little power.”

The Solar Decathlon was created by the U.S. Department of Energy to bring attention to one of the biggest challenges we face – an ever-increasing need for energy. As an internationally recognized event, the Solar Decathlon offers powerful solutions to using more efficiently and from renewable resources.

[via Smart Home Press Release]