CMU Students Advance to Finals in DOE’s Solar District Cup Class of 2021-2022
By Alexandra Kramer, Julia Concolino
Media Inquiries- Digital Communications Manager
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is among the finalists in Solar District Cup Collegiate Design Competition, sponsored by the US Department of Energy. Competitors are tasked with creating systems that incorporate solar, energy storage, and other technologies for a real-world district or campus; honing skills that will be critical in the clean energy transition. CMU's team is comprised of multi-disciplinary masters students from the Energy Science, Technology & Policy program and Tepper School of Business.
This competition encourages a new generation of renewable energy entrepreneurs to develop distributed energy systems that enable a flexible and resilient power infrastructure. For the 2021-2022 program the three district use cases are for Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and The Ohio State University. CMU’s team will continue working on their project within the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory division to create an optimized solar and storage solution for the PNNL campus.
Team from left to right: Alexandra Kramer (CIT), Sean Irvine (Tepper), Keitaro Iwasa (Tepper), Rhiva Singh (CIT), Ian Gray (Tepper), Panayiotis (Panos) Moutis (Wilson E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation, Faculty Advisor)
The CMU team says of the Solar District Cup Finals: "This spring we are excited to continue working with SDC mentors to refine our design and add a battery component to our system. We've enjoyed the collaborative nature of the project - working with students both in CIT and Tepper - as well as the invaluable guidance we've received from our faculty mentor Panos Moutis."
Moutis shared on social media: “I’m very proud of the whole team. You did a great job and you barely ever required my help! Onward to the finals!” The whole team is looking forward to participating in the final round this spring.
To win the Solar Cup, the finalists must present a detailed description of their final suggested systems, layout, financial analysis, and other aspects by mid-April 2022 where the teams will then present their concepts to industry judges. Each division will have a first-, second-, and third-place team. The first-place winners will pitch their proposals to a public audience who will vote to determine the Project Pitch winner.