poptech: sheila kenedy
October 18, 2007 by Chris | permalink
her talk was about a project on PORTABLE LIGHT. [www.portablelight.org]
a physicist calculated that it would take solar cell array the size of about south Dakota would supply the usa with all its power needs. [hard to imagine that it would have the energy density required]
she talked about growing up on the east coast and fireflys. And began to think about the smallest light source needed. What would it need to be? Simple, durable, lightweight, adaptable and self-contained. She then asked the question ‘what can we do RIGHT NOW with what we already have?’
she, and her students, went around looking for existing technologies from various other bits of technology. she dramaticaly hammered a silicon solar cell into bits and showed how a flexible polymer solar cell is all but indestructable.
the best part was how some of the Mexican Indians took the flxible cells and wove them into some bags that they made.
