The sun produces enough energy to power the planet many many times over. The issue is how to harness it. The current solar solutions are fairly inefficient at producing electricity and are stiff and heavy which makes them impractical for some uses. The rigidity also makes them fragile which further limits the applications in which they can be used.

But, researchers from the University of Austria and the University of Tokyo have made a pretty significant advancement in the technology of solar cells. They were able to create an ultra-thin solar cell which measures a minuscule 1.9 micrometers thick. This is roughly one-tenth the size of the next smallest device.

It's flexibility comes from the fact that it is composed of electrodes mounted on plastic foil, rather than glass. This allows it to be wrapped around a human hair which is nearly 20 times thicker. It could be ready for use in as little as 5 years. There's a plethora of information available at the source below.