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[[GE Genius Series:Dr. Danielle Merfeld, Electrical Engineer][Produced by Vivek Kemp for GE]]
[[Narrator] For Danielle Merfeld light is everything. ]
[It's the answer, in fact, to the planet's energy demands.]
[[D.M.] Looking at light as a form of energy has just been ]
[[Narrator] As leader of GE's solar technology programs, ]
[Danielle is charged with helping to develop next-generation solar technologies. ]
[And not those clunky ones you might remember]
[on your neighbor's rooftop. ]
[Danielle's solar panels are thin, flexible, and ]
[of course, they love a good soak in the sun. ]
[Danielle talked to me via phone from her office in ]
[GE's Global Research Center in upstate New York.]
[[D.M.] The biggest thing in people's mind about solar power is exactly what]
[you described, those big, thick panels that go on top of roofs.]
[The biggest revolution, I think, that's happening in the solar]
[field today, there's a technology called thin film semiconductors,]
[thin film PV modules, that is ]
[really revolutionizing the cost side of the equation. ]
[They're lighter, they're cheaper--much cheaper--they use a lot ]
[less material, and they're easier to manufacture. ]
[The biggest next step is going to be when you start putting thin film down ]
[on a flexible substrate that can be wrapped around things]
[or they can conform to a roof or hung like sails. ]
[Not only are they very light, ]
[and hopefully very inexpensive to produce, but they are also]
[more architecturally interesting and you can do a lot]
[more with them than you can a rigid panel of any size. ]
[The one interesting fun fact here is that we get]
[enough energy from the sun in one hour to power]
[all of our electricity needs across the whole globe]
[[Narrator] One of the things that strikes me about talking to ]
[researchers at the GRC is that so much of tomorrow's technology]
[already seems to exist today, ]
[but the marketplace won't see it for some years to come. ]
[What's the challenge in bringing these technologies to market, and]
[is it ever frustrating to you to know that you ]
[have something in your hands right now that could be benefitting people?]
[[D.M.] No, I think it gives you another challenge. ]
[The reason why it might take 10 years before the common marketplace]
[sees it isn't because we're sitting on it until we need it.]
[It's because the costs aren't there. ]
[Although we can create it in the lab environment, ]
[if you tried to scale it up to gigawatts ]
[of energy, it just wouldn't scale.]
[So while it is far off, I think people here get pretty excited knowing that something ]
[that they're working on can make such a big difference in the world. ]
[[Narrator] So much of science seems to be about enabling creativity.]
[What's your philosophy behind accomplishing that goal?]
[[D.M.] Well, I think in terms of a philosophy, ]
[I get very excited when I have a challenge]
[or a problem, and I think everyone does]
[if they feel well-equipped to meet that challenge. ]
[So one of the things that I really try to do is I try to give everyone the sense]
[that there are a lot of tools out there and they only have to learn]
[how to pick them up to use them. ]
[One great example of this is some of the technologies we have around coating. ]
[Some of them are nanostructured, some of them are based on particles. ]
[They do everything from capture light coming in at all angles,]
[so, effectively, it has an anti-reflection coating that]
[is almost as if it is always pointing towards the sun,]
[We also have some coatings that we're working on that will take the whole spectrum ]
[of sunlight and shift it into the specific portion of the spectrum that ]
[the semiconductor film absorbs. ]
[So it's sort of like revving up the ]
[capability of the solar panel.]
[[Narrator] And Danielle, I have to ask. ]
[Do you consider yourself a genius?]
[[D.M.] I would have to say I'm flattered that somebody would ask me that question, ]
[but I think a better description]
[of what I do and how I do it is that I'm a master juggler,]
[and I can work with a lot of people that have amazing]
[ideas and concepts and help them work with other amazing people]
[who have ways to realize that, and hopefully learn a]
