Scientists from Empa and other institutions have analyzed perovskite and CIGS solar cells to assess commercialization risks. Their study in Nature Energy has that examined how research and industry can better align to develop market-ready solar technologies. The team found that many lab breakthroughs fail due to scalability limits, high costs, and competition from established silicon. CIGS lost momentum after complex manufacturing and falling silicon prices reduced its competitiveness. Perovskites show high efficiency and have attracted over $ 500 million in investment, but stability and long-term durability remain concerns. The authors has urged researchers to focus on resilience, reliability and field testing rather than efficiency records. They called for earlier collaboration between academia and industry, greater transparency on failed approaches and continued investment in thin-film and tandem technologies as complementary solutions to silicon.