This article is about the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity. For a broader range of human uses for sunlight, see Solar best fridge brand 2020. For the unit of light from stars and galaxies, see Solar luminosity.

For other uses, see Solar Power. Estimated solar energy available for power generation. Photovoltaics were initially solely used as a source of electricity for small and medium-sized applications, from the calculator powered by a single solar cell to remote homes powered by an off-grid rooftop PV system. Commercial concentrated solar power plants were first developed in the 1980s. 2015 when the Paris Agreement to limit climate change was signed.

Much more low carbon power, such as solar, is urgently needed to limit climate change, but the International Energy Agency said in 2022 that more effort was needed for grid integration and the mitigation of policy, regulation and financing challenges. A solar cell, or photovoltaic cell, is a device that converts light into electric current using the photovoltaic effect. The first solar cell was constructed by Charles Fritts in the 1880s. Many residential PV systems are connected to the grid wherever available, especially in developed countries with large markets. In these grid-connected PV systems, use of energy storage is optional.

A parabolic collector concentrates sunlight onto a tube in its focal point. A wide range of concentrating technologies exists: among the best known are the parabolic trough, the compact linear Fresnel reflector, the dish Stirling and the solar power tower. The early development of solar technologies starting in the 1860s was driven by an expectation that coal would soon become scarce, such as experiments by Augustin Mouchot. By the 1970s, solar power was being used on satellites, but the cost of solar power was considered to be unrealistic for conventional applications. In 1974 it was estimated that only six private homes in all of North America were entirely heated or cooled by functional solar power systems.