FirstLight_SolarDecathlon2011_EP07

So from our construction shed out at Lyall Bay
the house modules were just pushed out through the door
from there they were just craned up on to the back of some trucks
strapped down and then delivered to our actual test assembly site
at Frank Kitts Park on the waterfront
Obviously moving a...
4 or 5 tonne massive square box has it's issues!
But they manged to do it. We had issues with the heights of the modules
so we had to reduce that as much as possible for transport
because Wellington is full of tram lines and trolley bus lines and things like that, so...
we had to be under all those wires otherwise it would have been a disaster (laughs)!
We didn't know how long things were gong to take on site
to put these things in and stuff like that, so at it end of the day....
I think it took us about 8 hours to put all 6 modules into place
and that's roughly what we had anticipated. So I think: on schedule? Yes, it was just a really long day!
because of the inexperience that we have, and being the first time...
and just trying to direct everybody and get the job finished was just a lot of work.
But that went ok. At the end of the day we got it done.
So all in all I think we were quite successful
and I'm fairly confident that we'll get it done within our time limit in America.
Massive learning curve but really, really valuable
I'm so happy we did a test assembly, everybody just gained that valuable experience for America really.
So after the tours had finished we just sort of disassembled the building in the reverse order that we assembled it
So the canopy came down, the landscape got disassembled...
We've been talking to a few shipping guys and they've advised us to secure some things and how to do it
because, apparently, it gets pretty rough out in the Pacific ocean...who would have thought!
Well we first found out about this project nearly 2 years ago
in mid 2009 when the team were still forming their ideas
and developing a proposal to enter the competition
We immediately went "yeah this is amazing, they've got a great vision for what they want to do"
It's a pretty ambitious goal, a lot of work but some great challenges they're willing to conquer
We've understood the brief in terms of a compact house with compact appliances
and we've worked really hard to select and optimize, in terms of understanding the performance of our appliances
in that context.
And obviously supplied the appliances to go in to the house
We've selected really carefully, we have a wide range of appliances
we've sized them correctly for the house so they're typically quite compact appliances
and we've selected on energy efficiency.
Secondly, obviously, they have to be large enough to do the job
and we've looked very carefully at energy performance
[Interviewer]: And now that you've had a look around what do you think about the house?
The guy's have done an amazing job, we're really excited to see them get this far
and to see it all come together and look amazing and look like a really good, livable space
so yes it's really exciting!
The public response to the house was absolutely phenomenal
we were just amazed consistently, day after day after day the amount of people coming down
and it was just fantastic, and a hectic time for the team
but at the same time great to see so many people interested in what we were doing
and the potential for solar power and solar energy in New Zealand
Over the 18 day period we had down there we're looking at
somewhere around 20,000 visitors.
Our expectations were probably about 5,000 to 7,000 people over the 18 day period
so, yeah, it was probably 4 or 5 times greater than our original expectations
The way that we ran it was: just having small individualized groups
going through, so about 10 or 15 going through guided by 1 student
who would take them around and do about a 20 minute tour of the house
and that's sort of the same kind of process which we're looking at running when we head out to The States.
So the last weekend that we were down at Frank Kitts Park
Meridian ran a "coffee morning" early in the morning on the Saturday morning
again, there was a fantastic public response
and they had Jeremy Wells there, their sort of "showpiece boy" down there
wandering around having a chat to the general public
and the sun was shining and the coffee was flowing so it was great
So Meridian set up a big 2 meter high card
and we had a host of people signing that wishing us well for our trip out to The States
and that's a really nice memento for the team
and, again, it was a fantastic way for people to show
how they were interested in the project and were supporting the project as well.