[oceanplexian]

> They could potentially be extremely light for the area (micrometers to tens of micrometers thick at most needed for light absorption).

This is really the key, if you can make a solar panel that’s as light and thin as say mylar, and then unfold it when you get to space, we could put up several kilometers of solar panels without requiring much mass at all. It’s not like there’s wind or rain up there to wear it down.

[regularfry]

You might not be able to do a mylar-thick solar cell, but you can certainly make a mylar-thick reflector for a concentrator. Out of mylar.