RICHMOND -- Sen. Frank Wagner usually lives out of a hotel room when he's in town for the General Assembly session.

For the next week, though, the Virginia Beach Republican will kick back in a solar-powered pad with a 54-inch flat-screen color television, washer and dryer, microwave oven and psychedelic mood lights.

Wagner is the first person to live in a solar house designed by professors and students from Virginia Tech. The high-tech home is on display in the parking lot of the Science Museum of Virginia.

Wagner offered to move in to publicize the project, which has garnered national awards. The senator sponsored a bill last year requiring Virginia to formulate an energy policy, and he's become an advocate for alternative-energy technology.

The solar house draws curious stares from motorists passing by the museum. Giant V-shaped solar panels on the roof make the structure look like a trailer that took the brunt of an airplane crash. The gadget-filled, techno-lit interior resembles the set for an Austin Powers movie.

Wagner immediately made himself at home Wednesday, jumping on the bathroom scales to check his weight and sprawling across the Tempur-Pedic mattress, mumbling "Wow, when my wife finds out about this."

But the television soon lured him back into the living room.

"Like all guys, just give me the remote and I'm a happy camper," he said, plopping down on the sofa. "I'm a nut case for The History Channel."

Chip Clark, a master's student in architecture at Tech, showed Wagner how to crank up the colored lights, which are built into the walls and are visible both inside and outside the house.

"Can the light panels change color with symphony music?" asked Wagner, whose taste runs more to Led Zeppelin than Mozart.

The gregarious lawmaker has already invited the other 39 senators over for a visit, and his buddies are eager to check out his new digs.

"He should have a toga party," said Sen. Marty Williams, R-Newport News.

Wagner ruled out the togas but said, "There could be a card game in here tomorrow night." He's also offered to cook breakfast for the press corps.

A few other guests might also turn up. Museumgoers are allowed to mill around outside the house during the day. The glowing magenta, lime and teal lights are likely to draw curious nocturnal visitors wandering past on their way to a nearby bus stop, all-night McDonald's and drugstore.

"Just remember, there's no covering over that window, so put your bathrobe on," Tech lobbyist Ralph Byers reminded Wagner, pointing to the window overlooking the kitchen and living room.

University officials helpfully hung a maroon robe, emblazoned with the Tech logo, in the bedroom closet.

"My wife said, 'If I see you in a newspaper photograph in a bathrobe, don't bother coming home,' " Wagner said. "I'll just be in a sweat shirt and T-shirt and flip-flops like I am at home."

Virginia Tech students also stocked the house with Starbucks coffee, three bottles of beer, a case of bottled water, spaghetti sauce and a 40-ounce can of yams.

"I'm a big fan of sweet potatoes," Clark said.

"I'm bringing the essential food groups: chips and pretzels," Wagner said.

Tech professors and students bounced around the house dealing with last-minute glitches as Wagner prepared to settle in. Cable television service had not yet been connected, and the toilet had been partly dismantled. A new potty was on the way, the professors promised.

The solar house can get backup power from 20 lead-acid batteries, and it also is attached to the electric grid, said Robert Schubert, associate dean of research at Tech's College of Architecture and Urban Studies.

If the weather stays sunny, the solar house will generate power and supply the city with extra power, perhaps helping to keep the nearby Golden Arches aglow.

Wagner answered a knock at the door Wednesday afternoon to find a woman peering at his new house.

"Are you the person who knows how much this costs?" she asked.

He replied, "How much you got?"