Definition of PHOTOVOLTAIC

Sunshine and Photovoltaic

The -voltaic part of photovoltaic comes from the name of Alessandro Volta, inventor of the electric battery. Thus, unlike photoelectric cells, which use electricity for certain small tasks, photovoltaic (or PV) cells actually produce electricity. Solar cells, the standard type of photovoltaic cells (often called simply photocells), operate without chemicals and with no moving parts to create energy directly from sunlight. Much research is now being done on creating an alternative technology—solar film, which could be stuck onto almost any surface, or possibly even sprayed on.

Examples of photovoltaic in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

To that end, the bonnet is outfitted with both operable air vents and photovoltaic cells. — Julie V. Iovine, WSJ, "The Most Ambitious Park in Russia," 25 July 2018 The roof of the facility is covered in photovoltaic panels. — John Timmer, Ars Technica, "Bikes, bowling balls, and the delicate balancing act that is modern recycling," 31 Dec. 2018 But while projects aim to create a thermal storage system using the heat the silicon would give off, MIT's project uses a solar panel called a multi-junction photovoltaic to capture the light. — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "Scientists Envision Replacing Batteries with a Molten Silicon 'Sun in a Box'," 6 Dec. 2018 That technology: good old solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, which have declined in cost by around 99 percent over recent decades. — David Roberts, Vox, "What made solar panels so cheap? Thank government policy.," 20 Nov. 2018 The Magistralis wanted to add photovoltaic panels to the compound, a request rejected three times. — J.s. Marcus, WSJ, "In a Struggling Italy, Florence Homes Enjoy a New Renaissance," 28 Nov. 2018 The system has two inverters, which convert the direct current (DC) output from the photovoltaic panels into appliance-friendly alternating current (AC) power. — Amy Gamerman, WSJ, "The Homes Where Families Go Off the Grid," 27 Sep. 2018 Solar Impulse 2 is covered in 17,000 photovoltaic cells which power its motors and charge its batteries during the day. — Andrew J. Hawkins, The Verge, "Electric flight is coming, but the batteries aren’t ready," 14 Aug. 2018 The plan was to create photovoltaic panels indistinguishable from regular roof tiles, and early renderings of the tiles were promising. — Liz Stinson, Curbed, "Tesla’s solar roof production reportedly delayed by ‘aesthetic’ issues," 9 Aug. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'photovoltaic.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.