PSEG Gives $250,000 'Solar Home' Grant To Stevens Institute In Hoboken

Let there be light… sunlight, that is.

The PSE&G Foundation recently announced that it has donated $250,000 to the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, which will enable university students to build a net-zero, solar-powered home.

The home – dubbed a SURE (SUstainable and REsilient) House - is Stevens’ entry into the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon competition. The project represents the schools’ vision of a sustainable and resilient home for the areas at greatest risk during extreme weather.

According to a release, the home will be shipped to Irvine, California, for entry into the competition.

“The SURE House is a prototype to demonstrate how the state-of-the-art in highly energy efficient solar-powered housing design can be embodied in an attractive dwelling engineered for both livability and sustainability,” said A.J. Elliott, a student working on the project. “It goes further by also being designed to be resilient to the impact of extreme weather, especially those experienced in coastal communities such as in the recent Super Storm Sandy.”

After the Solar Decathlon, it is planned that the SURE House will be donated to Seaside Park, where it will serve as a public education facility addressing sustainable and resilient approaches to housing.

“This hands-on project moves students from the classroom to part of a team working together to solve real-world problems,” said Ellen Lambert, president of the PSE&G Foundation. “We are proud to support the construction of the SURE HOUSE to help these students learn teamwork and skills they can carry with them into STEM careers.”

Photo courtesy of PSE&G

Pictured above: Christine Hecker, Stevens Institute of Technology graduate student and project engineer for the SURE House

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