Caelux supports the US MAP Industrial Advisor Board's white paper, "Winning the Technology Race Against Foreign Competition: A U.S. Strategy for Perovskite Optoelectronics"
Caelux May 2026
Solar energy has become an important and sustained economic driver in the US and globally. The industry has an astonishing 34% compounded annual growth rate for the two decades between 2004 and 2024 – climbing from just over 1GW of solar capacity being installed in 2004 to nearly 600GW in 2024 (see graph below).
Solar is now the lowest cost form of electricity generation in most places globally, according to several sources. The International Energy Agency states solar PV is "the cheapest source of new electricity generation in history" in most markets – this is further backed up by Bloomberg New Energy Finance and Lazardi. Some might argue that solar is intermittent so cannot be looked at only from a cost perspective. That argument, however, is losing momentum as storage costs decline — battery costs have fallen 99% in the last 3 decades (The Rise of Batteries in Six Charts and Not Too Many Numbers – RMI). Furthermore, new technologies, such as the use of perovskite on glass to enable double-power-layer solar modules, provide significant LCOE reductions that can be utilized to increase storage capacity on utility-scale projects – paving the way for 24-7 base load solar in the not-too-distant future (Unlocking 24-7 Solar with Caelux ).
Solar is the largest source of new electricity additions per year in the USii. Given growing demand for electricity fueled by the AI boom and rapid rise of datacenters, coupled with solar's dominant cost position, the technology is likely to be the dominant source of new electricity capacity additions to the grid in the US and globally for the foreseeable future.
Unfortunately, the US, once a leader in solar energy production and technology, has fallen behind. China dominates solar module production, the heart of a solar electricity plant. Beyond production dominance, China has also emerged to be a leader across the entire ecosystem, from manufacturing equipment to technology R&D. And while the US has recently invested heavily in reshoring manufacturing via Section 45X tax credits as part of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, this largely ends up supporting established mature technologies while leaving small amounts of funding by comparison for investment in technology leadership.
The good news is that the US has a strong path forward to regain technology leadership in solar energy by establishing dominance in the next-generation photovoltaic technology: perovskites. This technology has the potential to leapfrog advanced silicon technologies and drive significant cost reductions for solar electricity. Perovskite technology is viable and at the commercialization stage (Commercializing Technology to Further the Expansion of the Solar Industry).
Advocating for additional support for the development of perovskite technology is the U.S. Manufacturing of Advanced Perovskites (US-MAP) Consortium. Caelux is proud to be an integral member of this consortium of public and private leaders in perovskites, as well as a member of its Industrial Advisory Board (IAB). The IAB undertook an initiative this year to develop a white paper targeted to reach policymakers at the federal and state level that outlines our common industry views about the opportunities that perovskites offer and the best ways for the US to efficiently support this rapidly growing industry, to the long-term benefit of taxpayers. As the white paper states, this is a strategic as well as economic imperative – perovskites have applications in space, defense, and homeland security, not just terrestrial power generation (US MAP Industrial Advisor Board's White Paper).
As rising system component costs impact the economics of solar development, perovskite technology's higher energy density offers a meaningful way to lower LCOEs. In Space applications higher energy density, lower material costs and a lightweight profile make perovskite's well positioned for continued expansion and new frontiers of possibilities. Moreover, as AI infrastructure drives an unprecedented surge in electricity demand, the next generation of solar technology is quickly becoming a matter of strategic national importance.
