photoelectric cell vs sensor

photoelectric cell and sensor both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
photoelectric cell	Yes	No	No	No
sensor	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, sensor is a hypernym of photoelectric cell; that is, sensor is a word with a broader meaning than photoelectric cell:

photoelectric cell: a transducer used to detect and measure light and other radiations
sensor: any device that receives a signal or stimulus (as heat or pressure or light or motion etc.) and responds to it in a distinctive manner

Other hypernyms of photoelectric cell include detector, sensing element, transducer.

photoelectric cell (noun)	sensor (noun)
a transducer used to detect and measure light and other radiations	any device that receives a signal or stimulus (as heat or pressure or light or motion etc.) and responds to it in a distinctive manner