Many photosensitive devices, such as photodiodes operated in photoconductive mode or photovoltaic mode, produce an electrical current that is proportional to the intensity of the incident light
A current-to-voltage converter circuit (often implemented using an op-amp in a transimpedance configuration) takes this input current and produces an output voltage that is proportional to it
Therefore, the combined system (photosensitive device + current-to-voltage converter) generates a voltage signal proportional to the incident light intensity, effectively functioning as a light intensity meter