Photos of the Day, Day 5 — October 3, 2005

National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Ray Anthony arrives at the solar village for his shift. Anthony is the nighttime safety officer for the event. (Credit: Byron Stafford, NREL)

University of Texas at Austin team members confer late at night on their temporary stairs, a stack of structural insulated panels (SIPs), from which the walls of their house are made. The wall behind the team is made from reclaimed aluminum newspaper printing plates from the Daily Texan, the school paper. The plates from recent editions serve as a time capsule as well as an example of reclaimed material. (Credit: Byron Stafford, NREL)

The Canadian Solar Decathlon worked through the night to bring their decks and ramps into compliance with the American with Disabilities Act (ADA)—a requirement of the competition. Canada's home is fully solar powered at this point in the assembly process. Small solar cells are integrated into the front window, pictured, which is stenciled with colorful maple leaves. During the day, the window generates electricity and transmits daylight, artfully splashing the colors of autumnal maple trees on to the entryway floor tiles. (Credit: Byron Stafford, NREL)

Michelle Hamilton, fifth year architecture student, does a late night paint touch up on California Polytechnic University's redwood screen. The screen, made from redwood harvested in Santa Cruz, California, just north of the CalPoly campus, has been certified as sustainably harvested by the Forest Stewardship Council. The screen will serve as a trellis and will extend into a sunshade of the same material on the south side of the home. (Credit: Byron Stafford, NREL)

Department of Energy's Dan Eberle, contest official for Contest 10 Getting Around, arrived at the Village main tent in a GEM electric vehicle. (Credit: Molly Miller, NREL)

Competition director Richard King addresses representatives of each team at the morning meeting. Competition project manager Cécile Warner stands to his right. Each morning the organizers of the Solar Decathlon hold a 9 a.m. meeting in the main village tent to go over concerns and activities. (Credit: Molly Miller, NREL)

Paul Norton, part of the instrumentation team for NREL, installs voltage taps for measuring the electrical output of the PV systems. (Credit: Ruby Nahan, NREL)

The third and final piece of Rhode Island School of Design's home arrives and is lifted into place. (Credit: Byron Stafford, NREL)

The interior of University of Michigan's home. Most teams are finishing their interiors at this point in their preparation for the competition. (Credit: Evan Miller, The Abo Group)

A shell around University of Michigan's home provides a space between interior and exterior for air transfer. (Credit: Evan Miller, The Abo Group)