I'm a researcher in this field. Printable, flexible solar cells have been researched for over a decade and improvements on their efficiency plateaued at about 1

I'm a researcher in this field. Printable, flexible solar cells have been researched for over a decade and improvements on their efficiency plateaued at about 10% almost five years ago. That's at lab scale being tested in a nitrogen glove box, using the most exotic designer molecules and printing techniques that don't scale. Many companies have tried and failed to commercialize this technology in the recent past, Konarka being one example. I believe Heliatek in Germany is the latest iteration, no doubt propped up by their massive solar subsidies. The main problem is that the raw organic semiconducting materials are currently not produced at scale, and no chemical company will risk ramping production when the end product is only a 5% efficient cell that will be outcompeted by c-Si in almost every application except niche cases like the chicken coops described by others here. That being said, my best guess is that printable, flexible electronics will be seen in flexible displays/wearables within 5 years, RFID tags on product packaging in the same time frame, biomedical and soft robotics applications within 10, and flexible large-area lighting (think wallpaper with programmable lighting zones) within 10 as well. But in the energy game, efficiency and raw material costs determine winners, and printed OPV is losing on both.