The SCU Solar Decathlon team spent one year working to raise the money needed to fund a project as monumental as the Solar Decathlon. Santa Clara University jump-started funding by pledging a $50,000 grant from the President's office and a $35,000 grant from the Technology Steering Committee. With this initial boost, we were able to gather the support of many alumni and corporate sponsors who donated money, time, experience, expertise, and materials.

All things considered, projected final costs for the project are approximately $800,000.

Our $800,000 budget covers much more than construction costs and in fact supports transportation for students to and from Washington, D.C., summer salaries for student employees, costs associated with one year of research and a cross-country "over-sized load" trucking expenditure. Click for more information on our corporate sponsors and their donations.

The Ripple Home itself costs $299,913 with construction costs and complete, top-of-the-line, individualized furnishings accounted for. This price tag could be significantly reduced to around $240,000 with standard sustainable interior furnishings, fixtures and appliances. It is also important to note that the Ripple Home is a competition-level house designed for off-grid usage. This competitive design is intentionally over-engineered to handle unpredictable weather conditions and unexpected mechanical failure. A regular consumer, and particularly one whose home is connected to the power grid, would only need a smaller, more stream-lined system.

Marketable Prototype

If you are not trying to win an international, collegiate, solar-powered house competition, odds are that you could be very comfortable in a scaled-down version of the Ripple Home, a design we call our "marketable prototype." Read on for specifics on system downsizing.

First, the $9,000 battery bank and bi-directional battery inverters could be removed in a marketable version since a house of this type is usually connected to the public power supply for evening and seasonal energy needs. Excess power produced while connected to the grid can even be sold back to energy companies for profit, resulting in energy payback over time.

Second, the competition-level photovoltaic array can be reduced from 34 panels to 25 while maintaining sufficient energy output for grid use, saving nearly $8,000. Third, several control system components can be removed without jeopardizing function. Many meters and sensors have been installed to provide accurate measurements for the National Renewable Energy Laboratories (NREL) solar Benchmarking Project, effectively increasing the cost of construction and materials by $5,100. Additional components such as amount of sensors, size of water pump, cooling tower, storage tank and ventilation systems can all be decreased appropriately.

We believe that building a solar home does not need to cost an arm and a leg. Check out our "house calculator" spreadsheet to estimate the cost of building or upgrading a solar home with any of the materials and systems we used.

Design your own

Download: House Cost Comparison (XLS 36 KB)

The file above lets you look at some recommended options when building or upgrading a sustainable house based upon the house we built.

Download: Marketable Prototype (XLS 71 KB)

This file provides an economic analysis of what it takes to build a marketable prototype or consumer home. It's conveniently color coded to clearly show what each part of the house belongs to, and updates as soon as any change is made. Play around and design your own!