Standing in her lab at the University of Victoria, Sahar Sam holds a solar cell about the size of a business card between her thumb and index finger, slowly bends it into the shape of a rainbow and smiles. In her hand, she holds the future of solar panels. According to Sam, the next generation of solar panels — thin, light, flexible and sometimes even translucent — will be applied to a multitude of surfaces, from smartwatches and cellphones to windows and electric vehicles.