Skip to content
photovoltaics

File:Solartce3.gif · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

EntityQ192127· pop 55· linked from 1,995 articles

photovoltaics

Sign in to save

Also known as PV, photovoltaic power systems, photovoltaic energy systems

thumb|The Solar Settlement, a sustainable housing community project in [[Freiburg, Germany|upright=1.2]] thumb|Charging station in France that provides energy for electric cars using solar energy|upright=1.2 thumb|Solar panels on the International Space Station|upright=1.2Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon studied in physics, photochemistry, and electrochemistry. The photovoltaic effect is commercially used for electricity generation and as photosensors.

AI overview

Photovoltaics is the technology that converts light directly into electricity using special semiconductor materials, a process studied across physics and chemistry. This technology is widely used to generate electricity for practical applications and to detect light in various devices.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

In the Vinony graph

Vinony's link graph records 1,995 inbound references to photovoltaics, and connects out to solar cell panel, watt and solar cell.

It sits within the topics Electrochemistry, Energy conversion and Optoelectronics.

Vinony links it to 53 Wikipedia language editions.

Wikidata facts

Subclass of
solar power
Image
SolarPowerPlantSerpa.jpg
Show 6 more facts
Commons category
Photovoltaics
topic's main category
Category:Photovoltaics
topic has template
Template:Photovoltaics
on focus list of Wikimedia project
WikiProject Climate change
history of topic
Growth of photovoltaics
Sources (3)

via Wikidata · CC0

~60 min read

Encyclopedic overview

36 sections
Contents
  • Etymology
  • History
  • Solar cells
  • Solar cell efficiencies
  • Performance and degradation
  • Influence of temperature
  • Degradation
  • Manufacturing of PV systems
  • Environmental costs of manufacture
  • EPBT improvements
  • Effects from first generation PV
  • Impact from second generation PV
  • Effects from third generation PV
  • Economics
  • Hardware costs
  • Levelised cost of electricity
  • Subsidies and financing
  • Other
  • Growth
  • Applications
  • Photovoltaic systems
  • Photo sensors
  • Experimental technology
  • CIGS
  • Perovskite solar cells
  • Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
  • OPV
  • Thermophotovoltaics
  • Photovoltaic-Thermoelectric Generator
  • Solar module alignment
  • Efficiency
  • Advantages
  • Disadvantages
  • See also
  • References
  • Further reading

thumb|The Solar Settlement, a sustainable housing community project in [[Freiburg, Germany|upright=1.2]] thumb|Charging station in France that provides energy for electric cars using solar energy|upright=1.2 thumb|Solar panels on the International Space Station|upright=1.2Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon studied in physics, photochemistry, and electrochemistry. The photovoltaic effect is commercially used for electricity generation and as photosensors.

A photovoltaic system employs solar modules, each comprising a number of solar cells, which generate electrical power. PV installations may be ground-mounted, rooftop-mounted, wall-mounted or floating. The mount may be fixed or use a solar tracker to follow the sun across the sky.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “photovoltaics” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (34)

Connections

Categories