photovoltaic

P3H4O1T1O1V4O1L1T1A1I1C3

adjective

Producing a voltage when exposed to light.

Similar
photoelectric
OriginEnglish voltaic ← Italian Volta ← Ancient Greek φωτο- (phōto-) →
Less commonScrabble 22
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Meanings

adjectivephotovoltaic (not comparable)
  1. not comparableProducing a voltage when exposed to light.

    Research on In 2 O 3 is very rare in photovoltaic materials due to its weak photoelectroactivity and poor charge carrier transport in In 2 O 3 [ 8 ], thus decreasing the power conversion efficiency of the cell.

    2015 June 4, S. Mahalingam et al., “Structural, Morphological, and Electron Transport Studies of Annealing Dependent In2O3 Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell”, in The Scientific World Journal, volume 2015, →DOI, archived from the original on 22 Mar 2025
    1 more example

    But the truly impressive part of this entry is the photovoltaic film that has been applied to the platform and entrance roofs (all 272 square metres of it). It is a UK first for the railway, and is expected to generate 36kW of electricity to meet the needs of the station itself and to feed the surplus back to the grid.

    2021 September 22, “National Rail Awards 2021: Denmark Hill Station Enhancement Project”, in RAIL, number 940, page 39

    Synonyms: photoelectric

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveProducing a voltage when exposed to light.

Similar
photoelectric

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰeh₂-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*bʰéh₂os
  3. Proto-Hellenic*pʰáwos
  4. Ancient Greekφᾰ́ος (phắos)
  5. Ancient Greekφῶς (phôs)
  6. Ancient Greekφωτο- (phōto-)
  7. Englishphoto-
  8. ItalianVolta
  9. EnglishVolta
  10. Englishvoltaic
  11. Englishphotovoltaic

From photo- + voltaic.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan fotovoltaic
  • fotovoltaicproducing a voltage when exposed to light
Czech fotovoltaický
  • fotovoltaickýproducing a voltage when exposed to light
Dutch fotovoltaïsch
  • fotovoltaïschproducing a voltage when exposed to light
Finnish valosähköinen
  • valosähköinenproducing a voltage when exposed to light
French photovoltaïque
  • photovoltaïqueproducing a voltage when exposed to light
German fotovoltaisch, photovoltaisch
  • fotovoltaischproducing a voltage when exposed to light
  • photovoltaischproducing a voltage when exposed to light
Greek φωτοβολταϊκός
  • φωτοβολταϊκός (fotovoltaïkós)producing a voltage when exposed to light
Irish fótavoltach
  • fótavoltachproducing a voltage when exposed to light
Italian fotovoltaico
  • fotovoltaicoproducing a voltage when exposed to light
Norwegian Bokmål fotovoltaisk
  • fotovoltaiskproducing a voltage when exposed to light
Portuguese fotovoltaico
  • fotovoltaicoproducing a voltage when exposed to light
Romanian fotovoltaic
  • fotovoltaicproducing a voltage when exposed to light
Russian фотоэлектри́ческий, фотогальвани́ческий
  • фотоэлектри́ческий (fotoelektríčeskij)producing a voltage when exposed to light
  • фотогальвани́ческий (fotogalʹvaníčeskij)producing a voltage when exposed to light
  • фотовольтаи́ческий (fotovolʹtaíčeskij)producing a voltage when exposed to light
Spanish fotovoltaico
  • fotovoltaicoproducing a voltage when exposed to light
Swedish fotovoltaisk
  • fotovoltaiskproducing a voltage when exposed to light
Ukrainian фотоелектри́чний
  • фотоелектри́чний (fotoelektrýčnyj)producing a voltage when exposed to light
Cite this entry
APA

photovoltaic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/photovoltaic

MLA

“photovoltaic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/photovoltaic. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “photovoltaic,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/photovoltaic.

Source: photovoltaic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.