page_title: Solar energy
section_title: Solar cells
hierarchical_section_title: Solar energy / Rank / Solar cells
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo of 4inch by 4 inch cell.
context_page_description: Solar energy is the transformation of heat, the energy that comes from the sun. It has been used for thousands of years in many different ways by people all over the world. The oldest uses of solar energy is for heating, cooking, and drying. Today, it is also used to make electricity where other power supplies are not there, such as in places far away from where people live, and in outer space.
  It is becoming cheaper to make electricity from solar energy. Because the Sun always gives heat, solar energy can be considered a renewable energy and an alternative to non-renewable resources like coal and oil.
context_section_description: Solar cells can be used to generate electricity from sunlight. It is a device that converts light energy into electrical energy. Sometimes the term solar cell is reserved for devices intended specifically to capture energy from sunlight, while the term photovoltaic cell is used when the light source is unspecified.
  Solar cells have many applications. They have long been used in situations where electrical power from the grid is unavailable, such as in remote area power systems, Earth-orbiting satellites and space probes, consumer systems, e.g. handheld calculators or wrist watches, remote radiotelephones and water pumping applications. A large no. of solar cells are combined in an arrangement called solar cell panel that can deliver enough electricity for practical use. Electricity produced by solar panels can be stored in rechargeable solar batteries, which is then drawn upon when required.
caption: Photo of 4 inch by 4 inch cell.
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