Photosynthesis

The sun is our most powerful source of energy, the ultimate source of energy for nearly all life on Earth. Sunlight can be used for heating, lighting and cooling homes and other buildings, generating electricity, water heating, and several other processes. Plants and certain other organisms are able to capture solar energy and carry on photosynthesis, a process that transforms solar energy into the chemical energy of nutrient molecules. Animals and plants get energy by metabolizing nutrient molecules made by photosynthesis (Mader, 2012).
Most of this solar radiation is in the form of invisible ultraviolet and infrared frequencies, as well as the spectrum of visible light. But the most important use of solar radiation by living organisms is photosynthesis, the direct conversion of visible light into usable energy for plant and animal life, and oxygen to breathe. Only a vanishingly small part of the total amount of radiation given off by the sun actually reaches earth, and only a portion of that is utilized by photosynthesizing organisms (Shields and Teng, 2012).
Photosynthesis is the process of producing and releasing oxygen in the air. It needs sunlight, carbon dioxide and water. During the process of photosynthesis, the plants decompose the molecules of hydrogen and carbon-dioxide into hydrogen; carbon and oxygen produce glucose which forms the source of their energy, growth and food. For plants their main source of energy is photosynthesis, which is used by plants to harness solar energy. Semiconductor-based solar cells harness solar energy to convert it to electricity. A solar cell is a device that can be made, which takes the energy of sunlight and converts it into electricity. Finally, plant cells and solar cells both convert sunlight into energy. In the case of plants it is chemical energy, and for solar cells it is electricity. For the common uses of solar energy that plant cells and solar cells share, they do have differences. A solar cell converts the light energy from the sun directly into electricity and is non-organic but a plant cell is an organic piece which contains chloroplasts in its cytoplasm which absorb light energy from the sun and convert it into glucose. Plants convert the sun's energy into chemical energy, whereas solar cells produce electricity. Plants use organic processes but solar cells use inorganic semiconductors.
Photosynthesis is used by plants to harness solar energy. A semiconductor-based solar cell harnesses solar energy to convert it to electricity required by humans. Plant cells, solar cells, and like everything other living thing in the universe and the cells that make them up must abide by the laws of thermodynamics. First Law: Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred and transformed. Cells absorb energy and convert it into different forms. Second Law: Each time energy is transferred or transformed, the entropy of the universe increases. With each energy conversion in a cell, a significant proportion of that energy is lost as heat (Connecting Concepts: Interactive Lessons in Biology, 2003).

References

Connecting Concepts: Interactive Lessons in Biology. (2003). Retrieved October 25, 2012, from
University of Wisconsin Board of Regents: http://ats.doit.wisc.edu/biology/cb/td/td.htm
Mader, S. (2010). SCI115: Essentials of biology: 2009 custom edition (2nd ed.).
Shields, S and Teng, O. (2012). Solar Cells versus Plant Cells: In Defense of Chlorophyll.
Retrieved October 24, 2012, from Larouchpac: http://larouchepac.com/node/15708