This month, we’re talking about solar as part of an application of nanotechnology. Every video on the topic leads off with the same line: “Every minute, the sun hits the planet with enough to power everything for a year”. That’s the easy line…that hard part when it comes to economics.

Because of the cost of silicon (the traditional solar PV material) and efficiency of the material, much research and focus is tending towards using nanoparticles to absorb sunlight. The material would be able to be applied on rooftops everywhere, feeding electricity to the power company during the day.

This distributed model of power generation is the vision of Palo Alto’s Nanosolar. Check out the KQED video below for a primer on the hope nanotech brings to solar power.

QUEST on KQED Public Media.

In two weeks, we’ll be discussing Nanotechnology again, this time in the context of energy usage. As we first discussed last year, there is always concerns about toxicology, especially when it comes to nanotubes.

A study released in May of 2008 details the reason for concern. In the study on mice, injection of a type of nanotube caused a chronic inflammatory response, the type of response over time that could lead to the development of cancer or other respiratory disease. While the study was concerning, it just underlies the need to understand the risk of using these particles soon.

Definitely, these raise questions we should ask of Jeff Grossman in a couple weeks.

My friend Brad produced on video on this topic for the Museum of Science and Life in North Carolina:

More Info:
Science article on the study in Mice
NY Times Article on nanoparticle health risks

First off, thanks to Alfia Wallace from Marin Science Seminar. She brought down a big group of high schoolers to join the discussion this month.

Now it’s on to the recap. Also, the videos are now in HD….woo hoo!

The Presentation (Flash is required)
To move to the next slide, click on the right side of the current slide. Click on the left side to go back.

Part 1

Part 2

Additional Resources
Chris’ Lab Page
iGem 2008 Competition