The Solar Army is a new club on campus with the goal of researching varying metal salts and their capabilities in photosynthetic catalysis of water splitting.  This is a research opportunity provided by CalTech’s outreach program which allows high schools to aid in the development of new methods of applying solar technology to generate electricity.  We are currently researching the applications of bismuth nitrate in this respect.  The procedure involves mixing the metal salt into a solution, then spotting the mixture onto a pretreated glass plate.  The plate must then be heated in a kiln to anneal the solution to the plate.  At this point, the plate is submerged in .1 Molar Sodium hydroxide and connected to a voltmeter to measure the electrical conductivity.  A system under the sodium hydroxide bath flashes LEDs individually to test each spot.  The information collected goes into a computer program which analyzes the data and reports the effectiveness of the experiment.  This is a wonderful opportunity to work with a high profile research facility in exciting new technological advances.