A galvanic cell, or voltaic cell, named after Luigi Galvani, or Alessandro Volta respectively, is an electrochemical cell that derives electrical energy from spontaneous redox reactions taking place within the cell.chematic of Zn-Cu galvanic cell. In its simplest form, a half-cell consists of a solid metal (called an electrode) that is submerged in a solution; the solution contains cations of the electrode metal and anions to balance the charge of the cations.