What Does Photovoltaic Mean
Apr 22, 2020
When you start to investigate solar energy one of the first words you will come across is "photovoltaic". This word is made up of two separate "mini-words": 'photo' and 'voltaic'. 'Photo' comes from an ancient Greek word, 'phos', which means 'light'. This word is thousands of years old and has found its way into several words in modern usage, such as photograph and photosynthesis. The 'voltaic' part of photovoltaic comes from a man called Alessandro Volta, an early scientist who was born in Italy more than 260 years ago in 1745 and lived until 1827. Alessandro Volta is famous for inventing the first chemical battery. The 'Volt' is the unit used to measure the amount of electrical energy carried by a certain quantity of electrons. Putting these two word meanings together, how do you think photovoltaic could be translated?
