They probably already knew this was an issue to master years ago, but like everything they keep it secret until they solve it or are at the point of solving it as they claim now. There might be more breakthroughs in future that are currently classified as hurdles hidden from shareholders. It might be that there was no sense working with lasers until they had the more mature product of today. Perhaps the laser they needed has just been invented so no sense trying to work with lasers before. "The laser that is being considered by Natcore can be extensively manipulated so that optimum conditions can be found."
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