SCS##SCS
Solar Panels do a "good enough" job of turning photons into electricity to be used at an industrial level on earth. Assuming we have improvements in solar capability by the time star wars happens we can capture a lot of the excess power from the lasers. This leads to the development of SCS or Solar Cell Shielding.
This excess power can be used return fire at the enemy at a fraction of the cost or could be used to power expensive defense (read electronic heat sink). Whatever you use the power for, whoever fires the first shot is at the disadvantage in this fight.
The next big improvement is changing the wavelength for the laser being fired, which could mean decreased electric conversions for the solar cell shielding resulting in faster critical levels of heat. Making adjustable shielding is then key to accompany the adjustable photon frequencies being sent at ships.
This adjustable shielding would then make good invisibility cloaks outside of combat as they could absorb or reflect background electromagnetic radiation based on it's surroundings.