I suppose that technically speaking a photon-driven process could be accurately described as a chemical process, but it isn't the sort of thing that immediately comes to mind when I read the phrase "chemical process." I generally think of a chemical process more or less as something characterized by an exchange of electrons without the involvement of other particles. I doubt that's a technically correct way to think about it, but even chemists frequently label chemical reactions involving photons as "photochemical." I'm not entirely sure what you're getting with your second question, perhaps confirming the difficulty you've been having  are you trying to make a distinction between the solar energy resource and the tools employed to use it?   

 :