A photovoltaic cell or panel is a device that uses sunlight to cause a chemical reaction which produces electricity.
[technical]
photovoltaic in British English
(ˌfəʊtəʊvɒlˈteɪɪk)
adjective
of, concerned with, or producing electric current or voltage caused by electromagnetic radiation, esp visible light from the sun
photovoltaic in American English
(ˌfoʊtoʊvɑlˈteɪɪk)
adjective
of or having to do with the generation of an electromotive force at the junction of two different materials in response to visible or other radiation
Word origin
photo- + voltaic
photovoltaic in Mechanical Engineering
(foʊtoʊvɔlteɪɪk)
adjective
(Mechanical engineering: Energy, thermodynamics and heat transfer)
A photovoltaic device produces a voltage when it is exposed to light.
Special panels of photovoltaic cells capture light from the sun and convert it into electricity.
A solar cell is a photovoltaic device that produces an electrical current from light.
A photovoltaic device produces a voltage when it is exposed to light.
Examples of 'photovoltaic' in a sentence
photovoltaic
Some of the power comes from photovoltaic panels.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
It contains tiny photovoltaic cells that convert some of the light passing through into electricity.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
It has very low heat demand and its energy needs are met by a biomass boiler and solar photovoltaic panels.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Energy would be provided by wind turbines, solar panels and photovoltaic cells.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Energy will be provided by a combination of wind turbines, photovoltaic cells and solar panels.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
It has also put in photovoltaic systems to 1,300 properties.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
The plummeting price of photovoltaic cells and the generous subsidies previously offered by the government have led to a boom in domestic solar energy.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
There have been complaints about the way solar photovoltaic is being sold and the high-pressure selling tactics being employed.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
He said that the subsidy for solar photovoltaic energy should have been phased out, rather than removed at once.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
It has come up with a plan to try to bring down the cost of photovoltaic cells, which produce solar power.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Dr Lotto has invented special paving slabs made of photovoltaic cells and recycled glass to harvest sunlight and to help power the structure.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
A potentially more practical solution is photovoltaic panels, which use silicon cells to turn sunlight into electricity.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Another way of making electricity from the sun is with a photovoltaic cell (such asin a portable calculator).
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
Smart technology can also be combined with green technology such as geothermal heat pumps, photovoltaic cells, solar panels and wind turbines.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Before the end of the year, enough photovoltaic solar panels will be installed on the mountainside to power a town of 20,000.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
There are two models for the direct harvesting of sunlight -- the photovoltaic cell and the leaf -- and they are vastly different.
Oliver Morton Eating the Sun: How Plants Power the Planet (2007)
A few months ago, buyers were too scarce and cashstrapped to be thinking of pricey extras such as heat recovery systems and photovoltaic solar panels.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
All this, of course, if optimistic predictions about continued advances in technology and continued decreases in the cost of photovoltaic cell expenses hold true.
Fisher, David E. Fire and Ice - the Greenhouse Effect, Ozone Depletion, and Nuclear Winter (1990)