U.S. researchers are developing a new solar cell that will combine the flexibility of organic materials - currently used by Japan's Sharp Corp. and Germany's Q-Cells SE - with the efficiency of silicon wafers.

The cells would require 1 percent of the material currently used in conventional solar cells. Michael Kelzenberg of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, who worked on the study, said this would help cut costs usually associated with solar cell production.

"The idea is it would be lower cost and easier to work with by being more flexible than conventional silicon solar cells," Kelzenberg said in an interview with Reuters.

The eventual goal is to produce solar cells that could be incorporated into clothing, according to the report. The current technology is 15 to 20 percent efficient, about the level of solar panels used to heat homes. To maximize efficiency the silicon wires absorb technology over a broad range of wavelengths.

This is not the first solar energy initiative at Caltech. In 2008, the university completed installation of a 238.68-kilowatt solar rooftop installation that was projected to save $13 million in electricity costs over the course of the power purchase agreement term.