Team Israel will collaborate with local companies and use as many local innovations and technologies as possible. The Israeli market is full of initiatives and excellent products, services and technology. We see the Solar Decathlon competition as an opportunity to show case these technologies in a supportive environment that is looking to capture progressive ideas in the field of energy consumption reduction, energy renewables and low energy building, as well as affordable housing.

 

Another reason for our team to utilize existing technologies and solutions is to make sure we exhibit a tested, proven product that could be easily exported and installed around the world. This is an opportunity not only for our team of students to merge within the green energy industry, but also to collaborate with Israeli companies that will wish to take part in order to break into the international market.

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The technical solution which the engineering team will research and develop is a building "Micro-Grid"4 which will combine the following technologies:

Solar energy - team Israel will research and select the solar panels which best suite our purpose, with high efficiency and high output. We intend to combine "Tigi Honey Comb" solar panel and the "Solar Edge" solution. Both were used at the former SD China 2013 by team Israel and are Israeli developments.

 

In order to achieve the highest possible energy-output we will perform an analysis of the optimum angle and position to mount the solar panels at. In addition, we also plan to mount the solar panels in a way which will allow us to change the panels direction according to the season, and thus increasing the amount of solar energy which can be produced.

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Biogas- team Israel will engineer and install an advanced Biogas System based on gathering the buildings waste, storing it under pressure and transforming it to usable Methane gas. The gas will be used for cooking and heating water. The remainder of the waste is converted into compost which can be utilized to fertilize the buildings gardens. An example of such a system is the Israeli made "HomeBiogas" system which has been successfully funded on Indiegogo.

 

Control System and Smart home - In order to manage and control the micro-grid team Israel plan to implement an advanced cognitive control system, in partnership with IBM, utilizing IBM's IoT and Watson cognitive analytics platforms. The use of these systems together with a control algorithm, which will be engineered by a member of team Israel, will give the system the ability to manage the energy supply to different parts of the building, give advanced notice about technical issues before they happen and grant smart home capabilities to the building. A few of the smart home

 

Capabilities which we intend to implement -

Smart blinds and lights which together with internal and external sensors will make the building both actively and passively energy efficient, while lighting the building in the most efficient way.

 

Intelligent management of the times - when heavy utilities are used such as washing machines and air-conditioners. For example, running a heavy utility at a time when most of the residents are not in the building and the micro-grid is supplying high amounts of energy.

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