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photovoltaic effect

noun Physics.

the phenomenon in which the incidence of light or other electromagnetic radiation upon the junction of two dissimilar materials, as a metal and a semiconductor, induces the generation of an electromotive force.

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Nearby words

  1. phototypeset,
  2. phototypesetting,
  3. phototypography,
  4. photovoltaic,
  5. photovoltaic cell,
  6. photovoltaics,
  7. photozincography,
  8. photuria,
  9. php,
  10. phr.

Origin of photovoltaic effect

First recorded in 1955–60
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for photovoltaic effect

photovoltaic effect

noun

the effect observed when electromagnetic radiation, esp visibile light from the sun, falls on a thin film of one solid deposited on the surface of a dissimilar solid producing a difference in potential between the two materials
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012