Flexible Solar Panels
By Finn Peacock, Chartered Electrical Engineer, Fact Checked By Ronald Brakels
Last Updated: 3rd Jun 2025
As their name suggests, flexible solar panels can flex. They’re also lightweight, which makes them useful for camping, rapid transport and emergency deployment. They’re used on vehicles, caravans, boats, and even aircraft.
On buildings, they can be applied to curved surfaces or structures where weight’s an issue. As flexible solar modules can be glued directly to the surface, no penetrations are required. Unfortunately, the efficiency of even the best flexible solar doesn’t come close to conventional solar panels.
All Reasonably Flexible Panels Are Thin Film But Not All Thin Film Is Flexible
Most panels going on Australian roofs today use crystalline silicon solar cells and have a glass sheet on their front and often on the back as well. There are lightweight panels without glass that have silicon solar cells and some of these can be flexed to a small degree. But most of them are only lightweight panels and not flexible. So it’s important not to bend panels based on their looks unless you’re sure they won’t be damaged.
Panels with more than a very limited degree of flexibility use thin film solar panel technology. But most thin film panels are not flexible. Most of the world’s thin film solar panels are Cadmium Telluride ones produced by First Solar, and they break before they bend. Flexible panels use one of several other types of technology.
Types Of Flexible Solar Cells
There are two main types of flexible solar cells that are commercially available, amorphous silicon and Copper Indium Gallium Selenide, or CIGS cells. Other types, such as organic solar cells, may be more common in the future. However, I have to admit that I said the same thing about organic solar cells when now was the future. Another type that may become available are CZTS solar cells, which use copper, zinc, tin and sulfide — but at the moment they look like a bit of a long shot.
Amorphous Silicon: Most rooftop solar panels are made with crystalline silicon. In crystals, apart from defects and impurities, the atoms are all lined up in orderly formations. Amorphous basically means ‘not a crystal’, and atoms tend to be arranged all higgledy-piggledy. But, as you may have guessed, this can be useful for making a material that can bend or wobble without breaking. Amorphous Silicon can be used to make panels that roll up and stored when not in use. Unfortunately, while rooftop solar panels are now around 22% efficient, flexible amorphous silicon cells top out at around 8%, and even good-quality rollable solar panels are only likely to be around 4% efficient.
While I don’t recommend it, you could probably eat an amorphous silicon flexible solar panel and be fine. Physically, that is. Mentally, you may have a problem or two. Amorphous Silicon PV is not toxic, and while the plastic it’s encased in isn’t likely to be good for you, it’s probably not that dangerous.
Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS): As you can tell from the name, these are made from a combination of four materials. Their efficiency in the lab is impressive, with individual cells achieving over 23.6%. However, while I’ve seen a rigid CIGS panel with 17.7% efficiency, flexible ones generally have efficiencies of under 7%. While this is better than amorphous silicon, it’s still lousy compared to a standard solar panel, which is around 22% efficient these days.
While copper is not very dangerous, the other three elements that make up the abbreviation CIGS are toxic, and during manufacturing, care is taken to prevent worker exposure. However, CIGS solar panels themselves do not release toxins under normal use and are safe to handle. Just don’t eat them. They should be disposed of thoughtfully. I recommend contacting the manufacturer if you have any doubts about what to do with them.
Organic Solar Cells: Organic solar cells have the potential to be extremely cheap, with low or no toxicity. This may may cause them to be built into many products in the future, but I’m only aware of one organic solar panel on the market at the moment. It’s 4.6% efficient with a 20 year warranty. They have the advantage of not having their efficiency affected by heat, but a standard panel in a heatwave will still be more than 4 times as efficient. Fingers crossed they’ll be improved in the future.
Copper, Zinc, Tin and Sulfide (CZTS): CZTS cells are currently being researched. The elements they require are cheap and common, unlike the indium in CIGS. So far, nothing’s commercial has come of them, but it’s nice to know the leading researchers are from the University of New South Wales.
How Flexible Is Flexible?
Some flexible solar panels live up to their name better than others. While CIGS flexible panels generally have no problem matching the contours of a caravan or boat roof, or a curved building surface, they do have limits in how far they can be flexed, so it is important to be sure the application you have in mind for them isn’t a flex too far. There are some CIGS panels that are flexible, but which come with aluminium frames which have to be physically bent to match the surface they are being attached to, and this is probably not what most people have in mind when they think of flexible solar.
Meanwhile, there are amorphous solar panels that can be wrapped around a 5 centimeter diameter cylinder without being damaged.
There are also solar cell systems that are made to be folded, but it’s the material between cells that is flexible and gets folds and not the actual cells themselves. These systems can have the advantage of much higher efficiency than genuinely flexible solar.
Installation Of Flexible Solar Panels
There are various methods for attaching flexible solar panels to surfaces, but a common one is to simply glue them in place. This can potentially make installation quick and easy and minimise wind loading on roofs or wind resistance on vehicles. It also gives the advantage of not having to penetrate the surface if there aren’t already existing (and hopefully intentional) penetrations that can be used.
A drawback of setting panels flush with a roof is they are likely to suffer from a greater reduction in performance from heat than rigid panels set above the surface on racks, because air cannot circulate underneath and cool them. This can also result in the structure they are on becoming warmer than it would otherwise.
Lifespan Of Flexible Solar Panels
CIGS and amorphous silicon solar cells are expected to have lifespans comparable to rigid silicon solar cells. However, the flexible polymer that encases them can degrade over time. Particularly if it is flexed a lot. As a result, product warranties of only one year are common, although three and five year warranties are also available. In comparison, a quality rigid silicon solar panel will often have a 25 year product warranty these days. The good news is that because the cells themselves can be long lived, better coverings are likely to be developed and so we are likely to see flexible products with longer warranties.
Note that product warranties differ from performance warranties. Performance warranties can be for a long time, but companies may try to wriggle out of their responsibilities if your panel stops working, while product warranties leave less wriggle room. But regardless of what written warranties say, you are always protected by Australian consumer guarantees, and if you have trouble making a warranty claim, you can seek help from fair trading or consumer affairs in your state or territory.
Mobile Applications Of Flexible Solar Panels
Many people find the light weight and convenience of flexible solar panels extremely useful for anything that has to be on the move, and plenty of people have attached them to boats and caravans. Some tradespeople have put them on their trucks to directly power or charge electrical tools and equipment. During the day or with the use of batteries, they can replace portable generators and the need to transport fuel, and there are fold-out and roll-out flexible solar panel systems specifically used for disaster relief efforts.
Flexible solar panels may become a common feature on electric cars where they could supply a portion of the vehicle’s energy use, and because of their light weight they could also become widely used on drones and airplanes. Flexible solar modules are being integrated into an increasing number of portable electronic devices.
The Economics Of Flexible Solar Panels
Flexible solar panels are great for the right applications. However, due to their cost and concerns about their lifespan, they only comprise a tiny portion of world PV manufacturing – well under 1%. So we are unlikely to see them commonly used on rooftops instead of rigid panels any time soon and they are likely to be confined to mobile applications. However, if there is a breakthrough in their cost and reliability, then we may end up with low cost flexible solar panels that are willing to bend over backwards for us.