Over the past twenty years, Nunzio La Vecchia has developed a unique methodology to create advanced products and services, and produced some of them as pilots. More than that, he has developed a new business model based on virtual prototyping, virtual organisation and strong market orientation.
This new approach is illustrated by some of the projects realised and patented by DigiLab and NLV Solar AG – the Nullanium high-temperature material, special industrial filters, the Quantrit plasma reactor, and the Pyradian photovoltaic cell.
Engineering the future
The role of the technology is to make the transition from digital to physical prototyping. The initial priority is the further development and piloting of the Pyradian solar cell, priming the technology for scale-up from pilot to mass production. The efficiency of the cell, the cost of production and potential application technologies will be optimised.
A further focus is to maximise the potential of the cell through further development of the corresponding application technologies – in terrestrial, automotive and other mobile applications. Prototyping of the Quant – the electric car – is one example.
The development of renewable energy sources and sustainable technologies is one the biggest challenges our generation faces. The greater the challenge, the greater the opportunity for innovative business models and forward-thinking entrepreneurs.
Technology licensing
In addition to its role as a pilot production plant NLV Solar AG will also be a seedbed for a worldwide technology licensing business. NLV Solar AG is too small to launch a business of this scale and will act as a knowledge-transfer point for prospective licensees. They will be able to verify production steps and learn the techniques involved. They will acquire the Pyradian production and manufacturing technology, along with the required plant layout and the business and insurance model.
Research programme
Future work will see a widening of the focus to PV-related fields: for example, DC/AC inverters and rechargeable batteries, while the expertise gained in the Nullanium project will flow into work on new materials.
NLV Solar AG is set to become a development hub for engineering innovation in photovoltaics. It will undertake fundamental research in joint projects with universities and other institutions, offering placements for students and workplaces for highly qualified specialists, as well as contract research, generating a fund of intellectual property through patents, and licensing technology to manufacturers to create an income stream to fund new research.
Priorities
- Investigate the physical foundations of the absorption process and precise tuning of the band gap.
- Explain how the conversion probability of the charge carrier is increased by the current-mirror effects that result from prolonging the lifetime of the minority-charge carriers through modification of the lattice structure.
- Verify and explain the physical conditions and mechanisms underlying the quantum phenomena affecting fine-tuning of the absorption material through ion implantation.
- Investigate and optimise the material and technical conditions relating to stacking of the multijunction layers using CVD, particularly how the thickness of the active layer influences efficiency.
- Research potential applications arising from transparent laser-scribing of the internal circuits.
- Investigate further optimisation of conversion efficiency with regard to loss factors such as reflection, irradiation, shading, internal resistance, switching losses etc.
Energy bank
NLV Solar AG is exploring ways of financing not only these projects, but beyond that, to create investment models for the basic research and development required for a complete renewal of the world’s power generation and supply system, as well as the immense investment in infrastructure that would necessitate. The urgency and scale of this undertaking means that it cannot be left to private investment. Public funds will have to be committed on an unprecedented scale.
One practical step proposed by NLV Solar AG is the foundation of an energy bank, registered in Switzerland as the New Energy Bank. In addition to standard banking services, the institution would specialise in the area of energy developments, financing installations, e.g. through energy leasing, and developing energy-specific business models. Investment would focus on power generation and transmission projects based on conventional and new technologies.