Energy independence is not only a cornerstone of national security — it also ensures our ability to keep innovating at the rate and scale required to dramatically transform our most critical industries. 

With the rapid advancement of AI and the increased digitization of physical sectors like manufacturing, transportation, and healthcare, U.S. energy use has risen significantly in recent years. Like many other countries around the world, America is increasingly turning to solar power to meet our energy needs. 

In the U.S. alone, two-thirds of all new energy capacity came from solar power in 2024, with that figure expected to rise to a total of 33GW in 2025. Considering solar’s superior power-generating capabilities compared to fossil fuels, that trajectory isn’t likely to change whether climate-related policies shift closer to or away from clean energy initiatives. 

In fact, the appeal for solar power hasn’t been about the environmental impact for a long time. Even without subsidies, solar power is less expensive than fossil fuels, and it can be deployed much faster and easier than other renewable energy sources. All of these factors have helped the global solar market triple in size in less than a decade. At this rate, solar could be the world’s biggest source of electricity by 2031. Eclipse believes that embracing solar, along with nuclear power, is critical to building a strong portfolio of resources to meet the growing energy needs of the United States.  

The more the U.S. turns to solar power, the sooner we need to be able to develop and manufacture solar power technology domestically, at scale. In times of conflict, energy sources can easily be weaponized by the countries that dominate the market against the countries that depend on them for their resources. While the sun can’t be shut off like a gas tap, access to the technology to harness its power can. With geopolitical tensions and tariffs rising, the U.S. must reduce our reliance on foreign sources of solar power technology as part of our overall mission to achieve energy independence — and to capture a share of the growing market.  

Currently, China has a near-monopoly on the market. Dominating for more than 15 years, the country’s solar panel manufacturing industry now produces 85% of the world’s solar panels and 97% of the world’s solar wafers. While the U.S. was once a leader in the sector, China leapt ahead because of its willingness to invest heavily in building up its materials sourcing and manufacturing capabilities. The commoditization of solar not only enabled China to undercut everyone else on price, it killed the kind of competitive innovation needed to advance the technology to the next level of efficiency and reliability. However, now grappling with an oversupply of solar panels amid increasing U.S.-imposed tariffs, Chinese solar companies have lost significant value. 

But it’s a different story in the United States. The push for domestic sourcing and manufacturing capabilities alongside rising demand for solar power has created the perfect moment for an innovative new company to reinvent the market. This is Tandem PV.

Using a combination of perovskite and silicon layers, Tandem has developed first-of-its-kind integrated solar panels that represent a significant step function in the amount of energy that can be captured from the sun. With efficiency of 28% versus the industry standard of 21%, Tandem’s panels are a third more powerful than traditional solar panels. 

Perovskites have been attractive for some time due to the fundamental physics enabling higher efficiency than is possible with today's silicon solar panels. However, they haven’t been a viable alternative to silicon due to durability issues – until now. Tandem’s technology has cracked that code, with high-efficiency power that also meets the durability requirements for utility scale deployments. By integrating with existing silicon panel infrastructure, Tandem’s technology is an easily-deployable solution at scale. Critically, they’ve demonstrated durability at a scale competitors have not. Using industry testing standards at real-world scales, Tandem has demonstrated durability of better than 80% over 25 years while maintaining their high performance at the same time. Competitors have only tested pared-down versions, making Tandem the closest of new solar startups to commercialization.   

Along with its differentiated technology, Tandem is building the manufacturing capabilities to offer complete solutions to utility-scale customers. This not only reduces costs for the most significant pain points in solar deployment (including utilities, labor, and land), but strengthens our domestic manufacturing footprint in the solar industry. History shows us that we can’t expect tariffs to help us reclaim our footing in the growing solar market. China has proven entirely capable of simply shifting manufacturing and production to non-tariff countries, and the U.S. in turn adds tariffs on those hubs — passing the costs onto domestic companies reliant on foreign supply chains. Building a home-grown sourced, manufactured, and scaled solution is the only way to unlock our energy independence. 

Reviving the U.S.’s solar power industry is a big task, and Tandem’s founding team has the impressive mix of skills and experience needed to get it done. CEO and Co-Founder Scott Wharton is a serial entrepreneur who has successfully led four previous startups from early days to scale (including three exits), while CTO and Co-Founder Colin Baillie has spent the past decade focused on perovskite technology. Chief Manufacturing Officer and Co-Founder Chris Eberspacher is also purpose-built for this undertaking, as he brings decades of experience in solar panel manufacturing and scaling. This combined technical and strategic skill set along with their market sense is what sets them apart from others in the field. 

We haven’t seen true innovation in solar power technology for decades. Tandem has proven its ability to change the status quo, and Eclipse is proud to lead the company’s $50M Series A funding round of equity and debt. With this financing, Tandem will build out its pilot production factory to manufacture panels for initial pilots with solar developers.  

As investors and builders powering the Industrial Evolution, Eclipse looks for founders who understand that transforming physical industries requires bold, often contrarian ideas. Taking on a complex industry long-dominated by a single leader is risky, but worth it if you create something better. Tandem has done that, and we’re excited to be on this journey with them. 

More on today’s news from Axios.

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