Solar-powered calculators are hand-held electronic calculators powered by

solar cell A solar cell, also known as a photovoltaic cell (PV cell), is an electronic device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by means of the photovoltaic effect.

s mounted on the device. They were introduced at the end of the 1970s. Amorphous silicon has been used as a photovoltaic solar cell material for devices which require very little power, such as pocket

calculator An electronic calculator is typically a portable electronic device used to perform calculations, ranging from basic arithmetic to complex mathematics. The first solid-state electronic calculator was created in the early 1960s. Pocket-si ...

s, because their lower performance compared to conventional

crystalline silicon Crystalline silicon or (c-Si) is the crystalline forms of silicon, either polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si, consisting of small crystals), or monocrystalline silicon (mono-Si, a continuous crystal). Crystalline silicon is the dominant semicon ...

solar cells is more than offset by their lower cost and simplified deposition onto a substrate. The first solar-powered (non-scientific) calculators available in the late 1970s included the Royal ''Solar 1'', the Sharp ''EL-8026'', and the Teal ''Photon''. Scientific solar-powered calculators appeared in 1982. Solar calculators use

liquid crystal display A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat-panel display or other Electro-optic modulator, electronically modulated optical device that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals combined with polarizers to display information. Liq ...

s, as they are power-efficient and capable of operating in the low-voltage range of 1.5–2 V. Some models also use a light pipe to converge light onto the solar cells. However, solar calculators may not work well in indoor conditions under ambient lighting if sufficient light is not available. ''Anylite Technology'' is the name of a solar technology used by

Texas Instruments Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is an American multinational semiconductor company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. It is one of the top 10 semiconductor companies worldwide based on sales volume. The company's focus is on developing analog ...

since the 1980s in some calculators. They are intended to be able to function with less light than other solar calculators. This was essentially achieved by using relatively large photovoltaic solar cells. The use of Anylite technology in modern TI calculators is denoted by a lowercase "a" at the end of the model number (e.g. TI-30a). In older models, such as the TI-36 Solar, ''Anylite Solar'' is printed on the calculator. As of the 2010s, some cheap calculators include a "dummy" solar panel, implying that they are solar-powered, but they are actually powered only by battery. Normally these dummy solar panels are just a plastic decal.

References

Texas Instruments calculators Applications of photovoltaics {{Electronics-stub