A laser could be useful for this since you can easily create a well placed small dot from the 1 m away. Laser light is just that, light. Any phototransistor or photodiode that is sensitive to the laser light wavelength will work. You might need some optics to gather the reflected light from a larger area and then focus is onto the receiver. That will greatly increase the signal to noise ratio, but will need to be aligned carefully.
In general, you can detect laser with solar panels. There is intensive research on possibilities of employing lasers in wireless power transmission (Laser Power Beaming). Laser Power Beaming have already been used in order to provide energy for remotely controlled machines (example).
It is my belief that we are 20-30 years from the point when Laser Power Beaming from orbital based photovoltaic power collectors (satellites) will be possible (remember SimCity?).
That said, it seems like you are not that into wireless power transmission. I guess you want to use laser as means of transmitting some information to an electrical circuits which get attached to humans clothes, right?
Well, I've seen (and used) few military combat simulation systems which employ lasers in order to allow soldiers to shoot at each other (without killing each other). Even those systems which are vehicle mounted did not use photovoltaic cells in order to detect laser radiation.
We could provide you with a bunch of information about photovoltaics and lasers, but I believe that your initial direction is incorrect. You can use several photodiodes scattered over the body in order to increase the coverage of your system - it will be cheaper, simpler and much more durable approach.
If sensitivity is your concern, you might want to check out for photomultiplier. These devices have very high sensitivity, but are more complex and more expensive than photodiodes. They are also much more prone to mechanical damage.
Best Answer
you could assemble a photo-resistor array, if you're looking for a cheap, small, precise measurement of the location of a dot. You will need a number of Input equal to the number of rows + the number of columns, wired up like so:
instead of LEDs, use photoresistors. wire all 'R' wires to a 5k pullup, and all 'C' Wires to a 5k pulldown
You can buy a hundred of these for about 10 cents a piece, probably less, and make a 10x10 matrix for 10 USD.
if you don't need that sort of precision, I agree with ambitoise, and check out some image recognition solutions.