Rolla student likes life in solar-powered house

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Allison Arnn's solar-powered home has already proved valuable.

The University of Missouri-Rolla student has paid her last electric bill, which averaged about $175 for a while in the winter. And when the city of Rolla had a blackout last month, Arnn's house wasn't affected.

Instead of shingles, Arnn's home has dozens of solar panels that turn sunlight into energy to power everything inside the house. The house is a project of the university's solar house team of which Arnn is a part.

"It is a welcome relief as a college student to not have to worry about the cost of an electric bill. And it is such a unique opportunity," Arnn said.

Although Arnn, of DeSoto, Mo., still must pay $300 in rent plus any other expenses to live in the house, she may earn some money for the university's solar house team by selling excess electricity produced by the panels back to Rolla Municipal Utilities. The Missouri Legislature recently passed a law allowing a home running on alternative power to sell its excess power to an electric company.

The house, which was used in a national energy-efficiency and design competition in 2002, is not just Arnn's residence. It's also a research tool for students.

"Having a full-time occupant in the house allows for a real-world test of its systems," said Jeff Birt, an electronics engineer and the solar house team's main adviser.

The information and data gathered will be used by the team for the design and construction of the next solar house, which will compete in the 2005 Solar Decathlon. Work already has started on the design of the new house, which will be built and tested before the competition.

The 800-square-foot house has some of the latest in energy-saving devices, which include a direct-current operated refrigerator and a clothes washer that spins clothes until they are dry. The 32 solar panels on the roof produce 4 kilowatts of energy, enough to power the house for four or five days.

But some changes are in the works.

"We are an engineering school. Architecture is not one of our strengths," Arnn said. "We need to work on that. We have no wall space, a lot of windows and doors. We didn't give much thought to furniture placement."

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On the Net:

University of Missouri-Rolla solar house team: http://web.umr.edu/ 7/8sunhome/