Скачать или смотреть Cars and homes powered entirely by solar energy

(24 Sep 2019) LEAD IN:
The first African edition of the Solar Decathlon competition is being held in Benguerir, Morocco.
Teams are racing cars and building sustainable houses powered entirely by the sun.

STORY-LINE:
Teams are making their final preparations.
This year, six solar cars are taking on an endurance challenge at the Solar Decathlon Africa
They race 58 kilometres (36 miles) along the road linking Benguerir to Marrakech which they must complete in under 90 minutes.
Driver Sebastien Walger is first to cross the finish line representing the French Eco Solar Breizh Association.
"The race was fantastic and it is a good challenge for the new generation and also to show that with smart ideas and we can achieve great results and achieve this kind of challenge," says Walger.
And it is not just the cars that are powered by the sun.
At the Solar Decathlon village, teams are adding the final touches to their smart houses.
This year there are 20 teams.
They each have between 18 months to two years to build a smart house that operates entirely on solar energy.
Christophe and his colleagues are members of Afrikataterre Team.
"We want to adapt out building in the whole African continent," says Christophe.
"Like in Morocco, we are using clay and earth bricks because it's here, like in Mozambique or like in Senegal we would use wood for the construction and so on. And our idea for the future is to build a house for everyone."
And this is Jua Jamii house - it intertwines reeds with solar panels as a roof.
Before embarking on the build, Algerian architect and student, Nasreddine, set out clear objectives.
"These objectives are the protection of the environment and to ensure smart comfortable homes for Africans, so that's why we have to recycle the containers and at the same time to improve the living conditions in the containers," he says.
Solar Decathlon Africa is organised by the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University and the Research Institute of Solar Energy and New Energies (IRESEN).
"We had a lot of Sub-Saharan Countries working together with Moroccan universities, with European and American universities and they work then together to develop affordable houses for Africa," says Badr Ikken, General Director of IRESEN in Rabat.
The first edition of Solar Decathlon was in the USA in 2002. It has since then been held in Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.
"We wanted to extend it around the world because as you know climate change is a global problem," says Richard King, the founder of Solar Decathlon and a senior advisor to Solar Decathlon Africa.
"One country can't clean the air if everybody else is polluting there, so we need young architects in Europe, in Africa, in Asia, all around the world banding together to learn how to build sustainably, with new technology and zero-emission."
The Solar Decathlon competition is an international competition for green buildings and open to multidisciplinary university teams.
This is the first African edition of the event. It runs from September 13 to September 27 2019.
The winner of the housing contest will be revealed on 27 September 2019. The houses will remain in the Solar Decathlon Africa Village for one year.

Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...