Students compete to build solar-powered bach

A New Zealand university team hopes to design and build the best solar-powered bach to win the finals of an international competition.

The team, comprising of about 20 Victoria University students, will be led by postgraduate students Anna Farrow, Ben Jagersma, Nick Officer and Eli Nuttall, who are basing their masters' degrees around the two-year project.

The aim is to build and design the best solar-powered house that is affordable, energy-efficient, and attractive. Their bach will focus around a central open-living area which will act as an internal deck.

The team, FirstLight, has been selected among 20 worldwide for the finals of the US Department of Energy Solar Decathlon in October next year and is the only entry from the Southern Hemisphere ever to reach the finals, held on the National Mall, near the White House in the US capital.

The team was going over there to win and judging from the other designs they thought they had a good chance, communications officer Sophie Prebble said.

"The bach will be built on a high profile site in Wellington where the public can come and see it. The team will then take it apart and rebuild it over there within ten days," Ms Prebble said.

The team hope to raise awareness around renewable and solar energy and present it as a strong alternative for New Zealanders.

- NZPA