In this episode we sit down with Jacinto Sá, a full professor at Uppsala University and the founder of Peafowl Plasmonics, a spin-out company developing transparent, direct plasmonic solar cells to power smart objects like IoT sensors. 

We discuss how Jacinto started his project with the intent of pure research and why he decided to incorporate, how he made a breakthrough in plasmonics, and his journey optimizing his solar cells over the course of the past six years. We also chat about the technology behind Peafowl and different solar cell printing methods.

Here are Jacinto's action items:

1. Start thinking about energy differently than how we think about it today. Be smarter about how we use energy.
2. Get out of the idea that everything has to be a silver bullet. Don’t go down the bandwagon that one technology will solve every problem.
3. Technology can only help us so much. Be conscious of where materials come from and how they are extracted.