Progress in Flexible Photovoltaics: Materials, Device Structures, and Emerging Applications

Flexible photovoltaics, as an very important direction in photovoltaic technology development, are gradually overcoming the application limits of traditional silicon-based PV due to numerous advantages such as light weight, bendability, and ease of integration. In terms of materials, organic photovoltaics (OPV), CIGS thin films, and perovskite photovoltaics (PSC) each show different strengthsamong them, flexible perovskite devices have already exceeded 25% efficiency. In device architecture, single-junction devices are continually being optimized, and tandem designs have approached nearly 30% efficiency, which has also driven exploration of large-area flexible modules. Applications of flexible photovoltaics have expanded into wearable electronics, building-integrated PV, transportation, and aerospace. However, insufficient long-term stability, large-area efficiency loss, and poor mechanical reliability still constrain industrialization. To address these challenges, breakthroughs are needed via material modification, advanced encapsulation, process optimization, and standardized testing. Flexible photovoltaics have broad prospects in the energy transition, but achieving large-scale deployment will require cross-disciplinary collaborative efforts.