Open-circuit voltage (abbreviated asOCV orV_OC) is thedifference of electrical potential between twoterminals of anelectronic device when disconnected from anycircuit.^[1] There is noexternal load connected. No externalelectric current flows between the terminals. Alternatively, the open-circuit voltage may be thought of as the voltage that must be applied to asolar cell or abattery to stop the current. It is sometimes given the symbol V_oc. Innetwork analysis thisvoltage is also known as theThévenin voltage.

The open-circuit voltages of batteries and solar cells are often quoted under particular conditions (state-of-charge, illumination, temperature, etc.).

The potential difference mentioned for batteries and cells is usually the open-circuit voltage.

The value of the open-circuit voltage of atransducer equals itselectromotive force (emf), which is the maximum potential difference it can produce when not providing current.

Consider the circuit:

If we want to find the open-circuit voltage across the 5Ωresistor, first disconnect it from the circuit:

Find the equivalent resistance in loop 1 to find the current in loop 1. UseOhm’s law with that current to find thepotential drop across the resistance C. Note that since no current is flowing through resistor B, there is no potential drop across it, so it does not affect the open-circuit voltage.

The open-circuit voltage is the potential drop across the resistance C, which is:$\frac{C}{C+A}100V_{\sim }.$

This is just an example. Many other ways can be used.^[2]

• Electromotive force
• Short circuit
• Thévenin's theorem

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