Cornell University researchers have developed photovoltaic panels using a lightweight fabric that wraps around complex shapes and be contorted to better absorb sunlight to provide a versatile component for renewable solar energy generation. Called HelioSkin, it evolved from a collaboration between Cornell Professor Jenny Sabin and Mariana Bertoni, a professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, part of the Fulton Schools, who is also a member of the HelioSkin team. They combined computational design, digital fabrication and 3D printing to produce customized filters and photovoltaic panel assemblies. The achievement advances efforts to enable integrated material systems of buildings to act like organisms to respond and adapt to their environments.