A flexible organic solar cell less than two micrometres thick is reported this week in Nature Communications. This could have implications for the design of future flexible electronic devices.

Electronics made of organic materials such as plastic are appealing because of their flexibility and their ability to be used in biological systems, textiles and moving machine parts. Martin Kaltenbrunner and colleagues fabricate a flexible organic solar cell based on a micrometer-thin polymer substrate. The solar cells maintain their performance after being stretched repeatedly, and display a power conversion efficiency equal to their glass counterparts.