LI native among solar decathletes

A team from the City College of New York is among 20 finalists in a federal government competition to design an affordable solar-powered structure.

The team from the Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture and the Grove School of Engineering at the Manhattan college includes at least one Long Island student, Jasmine Serrano of Elmont, a 20-year-old undergraduate, a spokesman for the college said.

Other entrants among the U.S. and international college teams include one from Parsons: The New School for Design, located in Manhattan.

The 2011 Solar Decathlon competition is run by the U.S. Department of Energy.

 CCNY said more than 100 of its students are expected to work on a 1,000-square-foot structure, designed to be a housing unit or ancillary residential structure such as a social center and to be located atop an existing urban building. Photovoltaic panels produce electricity for lights and appliances, and solar thermal collectors supply hot water and power air conditioning systems.

 The completed structure will be taken apart and shipped to Washington’s National Mall, where the competition is to be held. The college spokesman said the school had not yet decided what to do with the structure after the contest.