Photovoltaic Effect

The photovoltaic effect was a technology used before the Slingshot to produce an electric current in a material exposed to light. Old records state it was a promising developing way to produce clean energy with no pollutions or waste. It fell into disuse after the catastrophe since the sun would eventually be too far from Ained for the panels to work.

Utility

At first, scholars did not conduct more research about the photovoltaic effect in favour of more suitable and long-lasting solutions, nuclear fission and fusion in particular. With time, the knowledge about the effect was lost. Nowadays, there are no manufacturers able to build a functioning panel.
Although the end of the technology seemed ensured since Ained would remain without a sun forever, the effect has recently attracted the attention of a small niche. With the current talking about the possible colonization of 212 Caeli after 14500, the technology reacquired significance. Although current technologies would work on the new planet, harvesting solar radiation on the surface of a habitable planet would be much easier and safer than looking for deposits of helium, lithium or any other material in an unknown place.
Shipping all the necessary energy sources in addition to everything else would make the trip even more expensive and would not solve the problem in the long run, while building some photovoltaic panels might be a suitable definitive solution.
However, the technology needs refinement to be relied on in such a critical time, and research is costly, especially on a political level. Since many organisations, like the First Order Church, oppose the colonization, such research may attract unwanted attention.