i wonder if she's an apple fangirl

Weihovah

iNow iAll iIt iNeeds iIs iA iMore iOriginal iName iAnd iProper iFunding.

BoinK

Nice, now I'm sure someone will introduce her to the 200mpg carburetor guy and they'll hit it off.

pdok

Oh yea, these are much safer than CO2 emissions

(nail polish ingredients)
ethyl acetate
butyl acetate
nitrocellulose
isopropyl alcohol
polyester resin
dibutyl phthalate
styrene/acrylates copolymer
stearalkonium hectorite
stearalkonium bentonite
benzophenone-1
calcium pantothenate

BiZarRroBALlmeR

Third world countries? I don't know about Australia, but I think we need to concentrate on getting cheap solar power in the world's most developed countries first.

FHJay

Forget the developing nations, I am in America and I want cheap solar. When can I get the good stuff?

Franknbeans

@karmaghost:The "I"in front of a product name isn't trademarked so anyone with a product to sell could indeed use it, since ipods and iphones are a big hit other people will use the same tactic of putting "i" in front of their products to make it seem apple is making the product, and the idiot masses will buy it and think this product is of good quality since "apple" is making it.

Mr.DuckSauce

Please, for God's sake, stop putting "i" in front of everything. That includes you, Apple.

karmaghost

What if it's organic, biodegradable, eco-vegan-friendly nail polish? (Wait, do they even make stuff like that?)

DisposableInterloper

@Mr.DuckSauce: They are also trying to find a way efficiently to use paint with conductive solar power so they could power up homes and the like with just paint, but it's far from perfect right now.

[technology.newscientist.com]

Mr.DuckSauce

@BiZarRroBALlmeR: With small uses of the ingredients to make solar panels better and cheaper with less requisite for having bigger plants with emissions, it would reduce co2 emissions if she only took the part she really need to make them, so to worry about something like that is useless if in the end it cut's down the higher uses of coal to heat up the furnace to make regular solar panels.

Mr.DuckSauce

@BiZarRroBALlmeR

Well...maybe she is on to a new principle of how to capture solar energy for use. Maybe not everything on that list is needed?

What have you done lately?

RainyDayInterns

5 years? gee, 5 years from now we will be already dead or being invaded by Aliens.

we want cheap solar panels YESTERDAY.
let's cover 80% of rooftops in the world with solar panels, then i can buy a Hemi and ride with it without any worries, my rooftop will probably do enough to help the environment.

laio

GO UNSW! hehe she's at my uni! how cool is that

chinsen

And she's hot.

nystreetfilms

nail polish becomes almost inert once dry acetate alcohol and almost all those other chemicals can be found in lots of other things like the computer your typing on or the t-shirt with that silly little logo you are wearing magazines carpet sofas all maner of children's toys need i go on
so if she figured out how to do it hell yeah props to (pic of her without goofy glasses on eureka page she's a hot scientist chick)

crash1105

iDiot.

thexile

Here is a the patent info at the World Intellectual Property Organization website: [www.wipo.int]

Chimp

She can also make a bong out of a tooth pick, ashtray and hair gel. True Story.

Hiphopopotamus

Nail polish and a pizza oven? That's also the secret to my super-crispy chicken 'fingers'...

Stem_Sell

@pdok: Dude, that is funny.
No word on efficiency so like all this stuff it is probably crap. Like I have said before if there is no detailed explanation on how something works and a clear list of all the benefits AND negatives it is almost always bunk. Actually it is always bunk but I'm sure at some point it might not be.

fastm3driver

@Hiphopopotamus:

Did I just sell you a second gen ipod on ebay or is this just a shocking coincidence of names?

Oh, and gratz to the hot scientist up there.

michaelwiggins

@Pope John Peeps II: Is it possible that you're just a contrarian? If the comments were going the other way, you'd criticize them for their gullibility and lack of discernment. I don't think that we have enough info to even begin to judge this one way or the other.

GadgetPlay

@fastm3driver: Riiiight. I'm sure she won two of teh country's top science prizes through bullshitting a panel of experienced judges.

Is it me, or is this comment thread particularly fucking stupid. A woman invents a fucking amazing scientific process, and flabby Gizmodo readers poo all over her for no reason?

What's your beef? Slow saturday? Well why don't you get out there and CHANGE SCIENCE.

Jesus.

Pope John Peeps II

Cue Apple Lawsuit.

ViperBorg

WTH!! I want to see the patent. Aluminum, ink jet printer, pizza oven and nail polish?

Is she printing silicon oxide onto an aluminum substrate?

FrankenPC

@michaelwiggins: Coincidence

Hiphopopotamus

as smart as she seems I hope she starts workinh on cold fusion next, she can get some tips from Pons and Flishman in Salt Lake City.

Benf13

@GadgetPlay: Not really. I'm a contrarian only when opinions are obviously dumb. In this case for this to be a hoax, or bullshit of some sort, this woman would have had to fool the panel of Australia's Eureka awards. Which I assume must probably be difficult, or they wouldn't be the panel. Having administrated a federal-level academic award here in canada, I know the caliber of people she'd have to fake out.

Pope John Peeps II

hmmm, she looks like she might be hot, but it may just be the goggles.

rainfever

she's just so infinitely cute to me smirking behind the oversized safety gogs! You GO- Cute science chick trying to save our world!

tech-tard

@BiZarRroBALlmeR

Did you even know bother looking up what those chemicals do? "OOHH! BIG SCIENCEY SOUNDING NAMES!!! THEY MUST BE BAD FOR ME!!!" None of them compounds are listed in the NIOSH carcinogen registry. Pantothenic acid turns into CoA which runs your krebs cycle. Calcium pantothenate is inside you RIGHT NOW. RUN!!!!

skippythatis

I dont mean to pick on the 3rd world... but how about we get solar going in the 1st world first... arent we the ones screwing up the planet?

JerseyCelebrity

@Pope John Peeps II: True, I doubt this is a hoax. Still, it irks me that I can't seem to get my hands on specifics of her proposal. The Australian patent system ought to be like the U.S. one where all filings are public, right?

Elaine Chow

@Mr.DuckSauce:
Indeed, as it turned out, the iPhone name was trademarked before Apple released its first iProduct, the iMac.

Purple Dave

5 years?! Why so long?

ripfire

@Purple Dave: not the "i", the i is not trademarked so people will go wild.

Mr.DuckSauce

Now, iDon't understand what all the frustration is. iSee a trend starting, but iCan't see a problem. iBelieve people just don't see the good these marketing ideas can do. iHope one day, we all can live in one big peaceful techo-filled world, and then iCan say iTold you so.

iAppolgize for my rant. iJust hope you all understand.

WildWon

She could power a grill with that, then she could Rastle up some shrimp on the barbi!!

You know someone had to do that. XD

shenanigans

@theczardictates: And yet, dare I say, you seem intimidated by them. Or at the very least least a little too eager to try and intimidate them.

Jackson the Narcisisst

Hmmm... maybe it isn't just standard university hype, but my hype-o-meter started dingling upon reading that these solar cells will "help them read at night"...

AreWeThereYeti

@Pope John Peeps II: Is it me, or is this comment thread particularly fucking stupid.

It's the thread. Even by accepted Internet commenting standards, where twenty-somethings still living in their moms' basements compensate for their own inadequacies by ignorantly criticizing people whose achievements intimade them, or failing that try to reduce them to sex objects, this thread is exceptional.

I think it makes them feel cool to pretend they're smarter than the PhD student who won a national prize for inventing a cheap process for making solar panels. And they didn't.

theczardictates

@BiZarRroBALlmeR: The good thing is I didn't read anywhere in the article where they advised eating the solar panels was the correct usage.

Jackson the Narcisisst

@Pope John Peeps II: OK. In re-reading this, a lot of these people ARE idiots, and I'm not familiar with the awards people, but I still think it's too early to judge either way. It could turn out to be impractical for some reason and still not be a hoax. It'll be good to get some more facts, in the meantime we'll keep our fingers crossed.

GadgetPlay

I guess Long Island will be the center of solar energy, given their massive investment in both nail polish and pizza ovens.

zingbot

Can someone check my math:

Let's assume that the average amount of energy that the sun produces is 5 KWH/m2day. 1 square meter of solar panel at 30% efficiency could produce 1.5 KWH/day. The average price of electricy is $0.104/KWH. Therefore 1 square meter of solar panel will save 15.6 cents/day. In one year, this panel will save around $57. Assume that you want to recoup the cost of the solar panel in 5 years. The cost per square meter of solar panel will have to be $285 or less (not counting inflation).

This does not take into account the cost of the other parts of a solar panel system.

ljj

@Jackson the Narcisisst: That's so cute: "I know you are but what am I". Believe it or not, not only am I not "intimidated" by the stupidity of random strangers, I also don't care whether they are "intimidated" by me. YMMV.

Although in my experience, they generally are.

theczardictates

@ljj: One thing that people often miss in this kind of calculation is the assumption that the generating capacity for the $0.104/KWH already exists, or is available in the locations where solar would be useful. To put it another way, how long does it take to recoup the cost of building a brand-new conventional power station (not to mention distribution network, if it doesn't exist)?

So if your math is correct, it demonstrates that solar systems have to get dramatically cheaper before they make sense as displacement for existing systems, especially in the developed world. But the economic equation can look different in a third world country that doesn't have enough generating capacity or a distribution network to get it to remote/rural locations (which is what this system seems to be targeted for).

The other thing that $0.104/KWH from conventional power doesn't take into account is the externalities such as pollution or carbon emissions. But that's probably far enough off-topic to get me banhammered...

theczardictates

@theczardictates: Excellent point.

Whenever someone makes an energy source comparison, it is very difficult to calculate the true cost of producing the energy. How can we calculate the real cost of a gallon of gas (which by the way is roughly equivalent to 33.5 KWH). One would assume that the cost of a gallon should be less than the $3.80 per gallon we pay at the pump. But the oil companies do not directly pay for the military used to protect the oil or the roads used to transport the gas to my local gas station.

I am all for greater research in reducing the cost of photovoltaic systems. Based on my calculation above, a one square meter photovoltaic panel will produce the same amount of energy as a gallon of gas every 22 days.

ljj

Impressive.

Perhaps she'd like to share a drink with Bill Brasky..

Jrsy

Imagine a world where everything is ithis ithat. Now imagine trying to search for something with the letter i. completely ruins all searching methods.

aeroworks

@theczardictates: I agree it seems most of the comments have been unnecessarily critical. But you sure seem to take some personal offense to it....

And the rationale you use by summing up my comment as being a cute "I know you are but what am I" is beyond me...and frankly a little illogical considering I had said nothing to put myself in the camp of doubters.

Regardless, alternative energy sources are the new money makers for governments around the world, and early technology such as this that drastically reduces the current costs of these technologies to end users usually has a way of being stopped in its tracks, while the government and choice manufacturers have ample time to capitalize on their outrageous profit margins.

Not to sound like a conspiracy theorist or anything....

Jackson the Narcisisst

Wow, good for her!

chrstphr

From the award website's section on this young woman:

A typical photovoltaic cell is made of a thin boron doped P-type (P for positive) silicon wafer with positively charged 'holes' (missing electrons). One side of this original wafer is then doped with phosphorus to create extra electrons, and is called N-type (N for negative). Where the P and N-type silicon meet a junction is created that separates electrons and holes when exposed to light. Metal contact is made to both the P and N-type silicon allowing electrons to flow out of the N-type silicon, through a light bulb and back around to the P-type silicon. This movement of electrons constitutes an electric current - thus converting light into electricity!

Unfortunately photovoltaic cells are expensive to produce, as you traditionally need PCA_Nicole_DrShiaccess to elaborate, 'clean' manufacturing plants staffed by highly trained technicians. Most solar cells are therefore manufactured in developed countries that experience high tax, transport and labour costs, putting the technology well out of the reach of poor countries.

Nicole has spent the last two years researching an alternative manufacturing process and has designed and patented an affordable, simple and innovative photovoltaic device called the iJET Cell. Using Inkjet printing, aluminium spray and a pizza oven, Nicole has created metal contacts to both the negative and positive sections of a solar cell in the simple, low temperature process.

When asked to describe the process she says "To pattern the cell we spray on something like nail polish and then inkjet print a kind of nail polish remover which lets us etch certain parts of the wafer. This creates a metallisation pattern so we can deposit aluminium on the back surface of the solar cell and create our metal contacts to both the P and N-type silicon simultaneously using a very cheap, low temperature pizza oven! And hey presto we've created a simple, low-cost solar cell without having to use expensive high tech equipment or high temperature processes!"
____
Currently silicon and labour costs dominate the production of solar panels that cost approx US$4.80/Watt (www.solarbuzz.com). The iJET cell has been designed to reduce both silicon and labour costs by using:

a) thinner wafers (ideally 50um compared to standard 250um wafers used today) of a lower quality that are significantly cheaper than standard wafers and,
b) low-tech, low-temperature, low-cost processes that are well-suited to a developing country production environment where labour costs are less, jobs can be created and the panels can be used in the country where they are manufactured (reducing shipping and tax costs)

These key cost benefits will likely ensure that the iJET cell will be significantly cheaper than solar cells manufactured today. However at this stage of research it is difficult to give cost estimates as I am not yet sure what silicon purity level or thickness the iJET cell will be able to tolerate. After prototypes of the device have been created extensive economic research will have to be undertaken to determine the price of an iJET cell module.

[austmus.gov.au]

JustinBerkowitz

@theczardictates: @Pope John Peeps II: What, you guys didn't get the memo? It's socially acceptable to anti-science. You gotta take pride in being ignorant! It's the American way!! (sorry peeps, I know you're Canadian).

johnnyabnormal

I'm guessing it's the nail polish that somehow set everyone off in this thread.

As to the third world-vs.-developed countries question, I have every confidence that if something like this comes to fruition, those of us in the developed world will still have enough nail polish and pizza ovens lying around not to feel left out.

The obvious reason that solar power (regardless of whether or not it involves nail polish and pizza ovens) is needed in the less-developed areas is that it enables locations far from the grid to derive some benefit from access to electricity.

So, for the developed world, solar is about using less carbon fuel. In many parts of the less developed world, solar is about basic access to electricity. So if the technology is slightly less efficient than some other solar options, it might still be quite valuable in those areas which are far removed from the grid.

not2techy

Why the frak does every potential techno breakthrough automaticly have to go to "third world nations"/"Developing countries". Shit, there's people in the good 'ole USA who can barely afford food and housing.

It also chaps my ass about doctors going out of country to help others. Frak! These whores for the insurance companies should help those in need at home. There's plenty of people here who can't afford health care.

The_Bear

@skippythatis:

I love you.

man in gauze is king ramses II, silly.

Ah, so there are still some smart people that use their brains for good causes. Good for you Nicole! Keep it up!

RE-L

Typically solar cells have two thin films of material such that when the sun shines on one layer, it gives up electrons to the other layer. It appears that the ink jet printer may be used to cheaply "print" each of the thin layers, the nail polish is probably used as a coating to protect the cells and the pizza oven is possibly used to bake the layers on whatever is used for the substrate.

The pizza oven while cheap and common, is also rather small, so we're probably taking fairly small and inefficient cells. But inefficiency is fine if the cost is right, the electric demand is low and space is not an issue.

Kudos to Nicole!

FrankReality

Now all we need is some sonar-wave-emitting device that instantly kills greedy oil company honchos.

garytek

Great news, but here's the thing:

people in 'third world' countries are, in many ways, ahead of us in adopting such technology (particularly solar).

It sounds funny, and you'd think that the prices would be prohibitive, but listening and talking to coworkers from Kenya and such areas, it seems that for various reasons (lower power consumption, possible price gouging in the US), solar is MORE widespread in such areas than it is in the US, a 'first world' country. It makes sense since running fewer electronics takes less power, and I assume these residents often see the benefits of 'free' electricity much sooner than we would.

aznyellojersey

@Franknbeans: Ditto...we need cheap ass solar panels too yo! Where's the love for the first world??

jabber

I think the point is the cells are cheap and easy enough to produce so a village can have a radio, but too inefficient for us to run all our far more important flat panel tv and USB desk toaster needs. It's nice to see someone developing something for the world, rather than going for a fat paycheck -good for her.

Whitt

@Mr.DuckSauce:
No, not the prefix in general, but the point is that Apple didn't create the iName concept. It was, as far as I can tell, the people they had to buy the iPhone trademark from _after_ they announced the first version...and promptly got sued for intention to commit trademark infringement.

Purple Dave

I heard that originally she was going to call it iSQUIRT but then wisely reconsidered.

BigDogues

Relax fellow Americans, thanks to the H-1B workers progam, the US will also have 3rd world status.

SnakeFarm

thic i naming scheme is getting stupid... iSTUPID!!

urbanturban666

Good for her. This is why there needs to be more girls in science, cuz the only people that would have thought of playing with mail polish were her and that damn goth kid that keeps trying to blow crap up.

Now the main fly in the ointment is, where are the 3rd world countries going to get that many frozen pizzas? Damn, I could really go for a lame frozen pizza right now.

bitgod

Im waiting for the day when i can simply paint my house with "solar" collecting paint. Of course the problem with 1st world countries adopting solar is that frankly no one makes any money off it.

pevans34

@JustinBerkowitz: Thanks for posting that -- I couldn't find it on that site myself, but they seem to have moved the link from when it was posted here.

This definitely seems awesome, and good for her. She deserves every award she gets for it!

cmantito

That cherry red will look fabulous on my roof!

wezelboy

Cute and smart. Damn. If she owns her own motorcycle I'm gonna cream myself. Steve Jobs assured the egomania will continue forth and prosper.

dragonmojo

See what gets me is this.. It sounds extremely simple to make! Yet, its going to take five years to commercialize? I think that time gap right there is too big. It should be two years. Then it would seem like something was actually happening. The way everyone squawks about global warming. You'd think that there would be a greater since of urgency to get this out the door.

Anyways besides that, this is really cool news.

-Core-

The sad part is, kids probably made fun of her for playing with an easy bake oven.... look at her now!!!

ISOHaven

Everyone is acting like this is the final product, trying to nitpick at flaws in what she has invented. Of course there are flaws, it is the initial idea, the whole point is that she's started the general idea, and it will get improved upon. Innovation, ftw.

Null42