photovoltaic

adjective pho·to·vol·ta·ic \ ˌfō-tō-väl-ˈtā-ik , -vōl- \

|Updated on: 5 Jul 2018

Editor's Note: Sunshine and photovoltaic

Definition of photovoltaic

: of, relating to, or utilizing the generation of a voltage when radiant energy falls on the boundary between dissimilar substances (such as two different semiconductors)

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photovoltaic

noun

Recent Examples of photovoltaic from the Web

The project is expected to provide for 700 jobs and consist of more than 350,000 photovoltaic cells.

— rye druzin, San Antonio Express-News, "German company to build 100 MW solar project in Texas," 15 June 2018
The project is expected to provide for 700 jobs and consist of more than 350,000 photovoltaic cells.

— rye druzin, Houston Chronicle, "German company makes foray into Texas solar power," 12 June 2018
About 350,000 photovoltaic solar panels stretch across a swath of land the size of 200 football fields.

— phil keating, Fox News, "Florida's 'city of the future' is first solar-powered town in America," 6 June 2018
For those gearheads and others familiar with the race — and even for those who know it only in name or through a television screen — the racetrack might seem an unlikely place for photovoltaic panels.

— sarah bowman, Indianapolis Star, "Watch out, gearheads, solar power could be coming to the Speedway at Indianapolis 500," 18 May 2018
Exceptions will be made for buildings shaded by trees or taller buildings, or with roofs too small to accommodate photovoltaic panels.

— patrick sisson, Curbed, "California first in nation to require solar panels on new homes," 10 May 2018
But some developers have faced resistance for projects that typically involve tens or hundreds of thousands of photovoltaic panels.

— hal bernton, The Christian Science Monitor, "Solar panel proposal faces opposition in Washington State," 7 May 2018
The team used a two-pronged approach: lasers and photovoltaic cells.

— david grossman, Popular Mechanics, "Watch a Laser-Powered Robotic Fly Take Its First Flight," 16 May 2018
Instead, the robot has a tiny photovoltaic cell—a mini solar panel—that takes in power from a laser.

— ellen airhart, WIRED, "This Insect-Sized Flying Robot Is Powered by Lasers," 15 May 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.

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.