Renewable electricity from solar photovoltaic cells

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 modern words, such as photograph and photosynthesis. The ‘voltaic’ part of photovoltaic comes from a man called Alessandro Volta, an early scientist who was born more than 270 years ago in Italy.

This factsheet resource should be used in conjunction with the ‘Discovering Solar PV Technology’ worksheet. Students will read the information and answer questions on their worksheet. This can be competed individually, in small groups or as a guided, teacher led activity.