German based alternative energy firm, Neutrino Energy has been planning to invest 2.5 billion euros in India for developing a self-charging electric car, the Pi Car project.
Holger Thorsten Schubart, CEO & president, Neutrino Energy group of companies, said the Pi-car would be powered by Neutrino’s patented neutrino voltaic technology.
Schubart said the company would invest 2.5 billion euros in developing and launching a self-charging car over the next three years.
Apart from powering the car, the neutrino voltaic would have applications across industries and products that involves storing and consuming electricity.
It is only a matter of time before we see consumer products powered by neutrino voltaic technology, Schubart said.
The company would set up a base in Pune and work with Indian companies and government organizations for commercializing this technology. Neutrino voltaic technology harnesses neutrinos, subatomic particles that are abundant in the universe and other invisible radiation and like a photovoltaic cell converts it to electricity.
Neutrino Energy group has announced a partnership with the Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology (C-MET) Pune to develop the Pi-car.
C-MET is an electronics materials dedicated R&D lab under the ministry of electronics and information technology with labs in Pune, Hyderabad and Thrissur.
C-MET, which has expertise in advanced material sciences and is led by Bharat Kale, would be working on the R&D of critical materials needed for developing components for the new neutrino voltaic power cubes.
Neutrino Energy Group has tied up with Pune-based SPEL Technologies for manufacturing energy storage devices for integration with neutrino voltaic power cubes for Pi Car and other applications.
Rajendrakumar Sharma, Chairman and managing director, said SPEL was India’s first and at present the only manufacturer of supercapacitors and its advanced versions. Sharma who is also known as the Father of Super Capacitors has developed capacitors with the highest power density of 65 kWh per kg.
Neutrino energy was a harmless energy available in the universe that could be harvested and converted into electricity. Scientists Takaaki Kajita of Japan and Arthur McDonald of Canada were awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize for Physics for their discovery of neutrino oscillations.
This led to many groups worldwide working quietly on harnessing this energy source.
The Neutrino Energy Group was developing innovative high-tech materials based on spiked carbon derivatives that can be used to convert a portion of the non-visible spectrum into electricity.
Harvesting neutrinos as an energy source is like that of a traditional photovoltaic solar cell.
The Neutrino Power Cell is made of layers of silicon and carbon, which are applied to a metallic substrate so that when neutrinos hit them, it results in a resonance.
Neutrino energy would be a way of decentralizing and generating renewable energy that would be cheaper than all existing energy, Schubart said.