The BP Solar Decathlon. BP could stand for better planet.

October 18, 2007 | By valmg |

My parents live a few houses away from me. We were recently speaking with our newest neighbor who mentioned he was considering getting a swimming pools. He knew my parents have one so he asked them politely about related expenses and how their electric bill was. He seemed very surprised to hear that their expenses weren’t as bad as some because they use solar power for a portion of the upkeep and maintenance for the pool. When I was younger my father worked for a solar power distributor and he put it onto the house. Solar power is efficient and saves money. And as the population continues to grow and use more resources, it will be more important than ever for societies to learn as much as possible about natural resources like solar power. Already much research has been done, which is proven by events such as the BP Solar Decathlon.
I did some reading on the Solar Decathlon and it sounds very interesting. Teams from twenty international universities compete to see who can design, build and operate the most energy efficient solar powered house. The twenty houses are combined to make a village where for a week the teams live and participate in contests that determine thte winner. The competition this year is on the National Mall in Washington, DC, from October 11–19. Sound interesting? Want to know how the contest is going? Check out the Solar Decathlon contest blog which is updated by an on the spot reporter. The first Solar Decathlon was in 2002, and BP has been involved in every one since. BP is the only energy company that sponsors the Solar Decathlon.
Want to learn how you yourself affect the environment? Find out by taking the Green Curve quiz. I took the quiz and results said I aspire. Suggestions for me to improve were to add recycling at work and carry less in my car.
We all need to learn more about using our natural resources. I wasn’t even aware that BP did so much work with alternative energy until I saw the BP Alternative Energy website which reflects their work with solar, hydrogen, wind and natural gas power. I recommend everyone take a few minutes and learn more. It can’t hurt, it can only help.