This sort of thing is really important (0.00 / 0)

I, like Matt, follow politics almost exclusively, but try to keep up with tech and science news when I can.  Honestly, I sorta hope technology runs laps around political progressives.  I think it'd probably make things much easier.

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by: MidAtlantic @ Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 22:14:12 PM CST

And these guys love their IP (0.00 / 0)

Looks like a good company. But also one that will keep others from harnessing their innovations:

http://www.nanosolar...

 

"That's impossible" is a good foundation for fundamental intellectual property -- especially if that statement comes from a leading domain expert -- yet one has already made it happen.  Nanosolar engineers and scientsts have produced such progress in an entire array of technology areas.

Nanosolar owns the definitive portfolio of intellectual property with respect to the world's most cost-efficient solar electricity products, specifically thin-film solar cells that can be produced with very high throughput.

Nanosolar has over 180 patents issued, licensed, or pending regarding all critical aspects of nanostructured materials, solar-cell technology, cost-efficient high-throughput processing, and relevant product and equipment designs. This includes exclusively licensed patents from pioneering work in the field: For instance, Nanosolar owns the printed CIGS patents with the very earliest filing dates of any patents.

The company has assembled a comprehensive intellectual property portfolio covering all aspects of technology platform, product technology, including several foundational device patents as well as key enabling techniques associated with the construction, optimization, and application of its technology in a way that spans all critical component, device, process, and system level aspects.

Nanosolar is constantly augmenting its IP position, mainly through new in-house innovation but also through collaborations and through sponsorship of the most innovative work in the area of cost-efficient solar cells.

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by: AdyBarkan @ Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 22:19:15 PM CST

Patents aren't inherently "evil" (0.00 / 0)

I appreciate your point and think that our patent system is pretty broken (as is much of what the federal government is responsible for). But that's something the government needs to address, not Nanosolar.  The fact that they've put together a strong patent portfolio doesn't mean they've been abusive in doing so, or will be so in "protecting" their patents.  In fact, I doubt they would have gotten funded if they weren't careful about patents.  That's the way our system works, especially when the federal government is spending billions to subsidize oil and gas, and very little to fund research in renewables.  That leaves it up to the venture capitalists to invest...and I'm glad they're doing so.

I'd like to see more open source-type approaches to tech develpment, but right now it seems more important that it gets developed and brought to market, and that government stops protecting oil and gas companies and starts nourishing renewables.

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by: mitchipd @ Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 22:56:29 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Technical and political possibilities (0.00 / 0)

Matt,

I'm really glad to see you post on this.  I noticed it the other day on Techmeme.com and was also struck by the implications.

You said:

I keep my eye on politics to the extent of pretty much everything else, but it's worth remembering that so much is possible and so much more is becoming possible every day.  We are only one piece of a very large cultural movement to recraft a more peaceful and just global society.

This is a very important observation.  Unfortunately, the technology (and other) solutions that typically get to the point of entering active political debate exclude so many other things that are possible today or will be so very soon.  As focused as you are (and need to be) on politics, you seem to appreciate this.  In my view, this is a very  important quality for political activists, especially in a world where technology is moving so much faster than politicians can understand.

I suspect there are a good number of other "breakthrough" energy companies out there, and believe their efforts have the potential to dramatically change the realm of technical possibilities.  As I see it, part of the progressive netoots' job is to expand the realm of political possibilities, and to help these two intersect in ways that allow us to deal with climate change, etc. 

Here's an excerpt from a recent NYT story about Nanosolar.  It suggests the company has gotten solar energy to the point where its already less expensive than coal.  It would be great to see this information enter into the energy debate in Washington.

Roscheisen, claims to be the first solar panel manufacturer to be able to profitably sell solar panels for less than $1 a watt. That is the price at which solar energy becomes less expensive than coal.  "With a $1-per-watt panel," he said, "it is possible to build $2-per-watt systems."  According to the Energy Department, building a new coal plant costs about $2.1 a watt, plus the cost of fuel and emissions, he said.

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by: mitchipd @ Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 22:43:20 PM CST

Also today - batteries with 10x capacity! (4.00 / 1)

From a Daily Kos diary that was on the rec list earlier today. Stanford researchers have developed battery technology with ten times the capacity of today's conventional batteries. Hello electric cars, powered by an increasingly renewable electric grid!

Check out Future Roots for organic rock'n'roll goodness from Oregon...

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by: robinozretich @ Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 23:32:40 PM CST

This could be ridiculously huge (0.00 / 0)

Just as it's impossible to overstate the disaster unfolding in the arctic sea ice melt it's impossible to overstate how great this could be. Nanosolar could become the richest corporation in the world in ten years time.

But we also have to remember that the long-term solution to our consumption bubble has to lie in changing the demand curve.

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by: The Cunctator @ Fri Dec 21, 2007 at 10:49:57 AM CST