FEATURE-Cheap solar? Texan house aims low to win contest

* Rice University solar house design emphasizes budget

* Looming US carbon regulations could boost solar industry

* Solar teams to compete in Washington in October

By Chris Baltimore

HOUSTON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - A solar-powered house built by a group of Texas students offers a blueprint for recession-hit U.S. families to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions and their electricity bills without busting their budget.

The Zerow House, built by students at Rice University in Houston, will compete against other solar homes in Washington D.C. in October as part of the Solar Decathlon sponsored by the U.S. Energy Department.

But unlike some of its competitors, which are integrating high-concept, high-price features like tricked-out home entertainment systems and moving solar arrays that track the sun, the Rice team's aim is affordability.

A quest for low-emission energy sources and looming first-ever U.S. regulations on carbon dioxide emissions have sparked renewed interest in solar power, which until recent years has been in an extended infancy in the United States since it was invented in 1954 by Bell Labs.

"This competition is for showing the public that solar energy is here now and applicable to housing," said Roque Sanchez, a Rice graduate student. "We're taking a house that any family could live in and any family could afford and adding solar to it."