Ikaros had solar panels embedded in the solar sail
The sail, shaped somewhat like a kite, also has solar cells embedded to generate electricity. It was not expected to make much power during this flight, but more to serve as a test bed for future ion propulsion-engines that not only use solar cells for electricity, but also are moved along by sails.
There's some effort to make thin film photovoltaics that enjoy lots of surface area for little mass thus improving the alpha. And for solar sails you also want to maximize surface area while minimizing mass.
So the two technologies have goals in common. The Japanese Ikaros was an exciting mission.