Many new energy technologies look impressive in the laboratory but never become real products.
Solar cells are a clear example. Scientists can achieve record performance under controlled conditions, yet turning those discoveries into affordable, reliable products for everyday use is far more difficult.
Researchers from Empa in Switzerland and partner institutions recently examined why promising solar technologies struggle to reach the market.
Writing in Nature Energy, they studied two advanced thin-film solar cell materials—CIGS and perovskite—to understand what helps or blocks commercialization.
Their main message is simple: scientists and industry need to work together much earlier if new technologies are to succeed.
Solar cells made from copper indium gallium diselenide, known as CIGS, once looked like a strong rival to traditional silicon panels.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, when silicon was expensive, CIGS attracted heavy investment and set efficiency records in laboratories around the world. But large-scale production turned out to be costly and complex. When silicon prices later dropped, companies struggled to compete, and the momentum behind CIGS slowed.
Perovskite solar cells are now in a similar position. They have achieved remarkable efficiency in the lab and could potentially be produced using cheaper methods, including printing techniques.
Governments and companies have already invested hundreds of millions of dollars in this technology. However, perovskite materials are still fragile. They can degrade when exposed to moisture, heat, or sunlight, and they have not yet been proven to last for decades outdoors like silicon panels.
The researchers say that focusing mainly on efficiency records can be misleading. In academic research, achieving the highest performance numbers often brings funding and recognition. But industry cares more about durability, reliability, and low manufacturing costs. A solar panel that works for 30 years is far more valuable than one that is slightly more efficient but fails quickly.
To close this gap, the study recommends shifting attention toward stability, long-term testing, and sustainability. Companies also need to share lessons from past failures. Sometimes businesses quietly abandon ideas that scientists later pursue again, unaware of earlier problems. Publishing negative results could save time and resources.
The researchers believe that cooperation between academia and industry from the earliest stages would help avoid costly dead ends. Institutions that already work closely with companies, such as applied research centers, can play a key role in this process.
Despite the challenges, the outlook for new solar technologies remains positive. CIGS and perovskite cells have unique advantages. They can be extremely thin, lightweight, and flexible, making them suitable for uses where traditional silicon panels are impractical, such as wearable devices, vehicles, or smart fabrics. Combining them with silicon in “tandem” designs could also boost performance.
Silicon solar cells dominate today because they have benefited from more than 70 years of steady improvement. The researchers believe that with sustained investment and closer collaboration, newer materials could follow the same path.
Breakthrough technologies may not replace silicon overnight, but they could expand the ways we capture solar energy in the future.
