Vincenzo LaSalvia

Vincenzo LaSalvia graduated from Cleveland State University in 2009 with a BA in Physics. After graduation, Vincenzo relocated to Boulder Colorado for a faculty research position at the University of Colorado. There, he honed his skill set of silicon and semiconductor processing and microfabrication. In 2010 he accepted a photovoltaics research position at the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden Colorado.

Within NREL’s High Efficiency Monocrystalline Photovoltaics Group, Vincenzo developed a unique expertise in thermal and chemical processing of silicon solar cells. At NREL, he pioneered an investigation of crystalline defect generation and engineering in Czochralski-grown silicon through ultra high-temperature annealing. In collaboration with Arizona State University’s DEfECT Lab and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Photovoltaics Research Laboratory, he has studied this solid state phenomenon’s effect on photocarrier lifetime evolution throughout the solar cell process. 

Vincenzo contributed to myriad solar programs at NREL – most notably in demonstrating the fabrication of a GaInP/Si dual-junction solar cell with 29.8% one-sun efficiency, engineering the laser processing of photovoltaic perovskite module interconnects, and receiving a U.S. patent for his work concerning the Hydrogenation of Passivated Contacts.