There a 4 big applications for photovoltaic solar cells:

1) In space

2) At isolated places

There are a lot of isolated places in the world, for example an oasis in the desert, huts in the mountains, small villages at small islands e.g. in Greece, ... It is too expensive to build electricity cables to those isolated areas. Therefore, solar energy is used for the generation of electricity. In isolated areas, the use of solar panels is competitive. It is much cheaper to build a solar plant with photovoltaic solar cells, than to build (hundreds of) kilometres or miles of electricity cables. The solar modules convert the solar energy to electricity, which makes it possible to pump water in an oasis, or to transmit a radio message in a hut in the mountains, or to wacht TV on a small Greek island.

If in the evening or at night, no electricity is needed (e.g. pumping of water in the desert), it is not necessary to store the energy. The electricity is consumed immediately after generation.

If is it necessary to have electricity in the evening, or at night (e.g. fridge, freezer, TV, ...), the storage of energy is needed, e.g. by batteries.

Another example of the use of solar energy at an isolated place is a light (beacon) at sea, or in the river (see photograph at the bottom).
In Belgium and the Netherlands, solar cells are also used for parking meters (see photograph at the bottom), emergency telephones along the road, traffic signs (see photograph at the bottom), ... In principle, this is not needed, because the electricity network is dense, but this is done by the government to promote environment-friendly solar energy.

3) In apparatus with a low consumtion

4) In regions with a dense electricity network