The purpose of this thesis is to explore the potential for integrating biomimetic thinking into the design and implementation of photovoltaic energy systems in a way that promotes ecological health, economic feasibility, and equal access to cleaner energy. Photovoltaic energy production is among the most promising renewable energy sources, however, current conventional photovoltaic systems exhibit a number of shortcomings. Steering innovation toward socio-technical systems that are integrated with ecological systems will help support human needs without inhibiting larger ecological function. This investigation began with the construction of a conceptual biomimetic lens from a foundation of literature related to biomimicry in the built environment. Next, the underlying elements, interconnections and functions of both the ecological systems involved in photosynthesis and socio-technical systems related to photovoltaic energy production were defined and examined. The biomimetic lens was then applied to each system to envision biomimetic approaches to address shortcomings of current conventional photovoltaic systems. The suggested approaches aim to address shortcomings in the design, manufacture, and implementation of photovoltaic systems in ways that mimic key principles found in biology and ecology. Since the success of ecological systems is embedded in the nesting of interrelated systems, the biomimetic lens was applied at multiple scales: the chloroplast/solar cell, the leaf/solar panel, the plant/solar array, and the ecosystem/community scale. The results of this study both suggest the direction of further research in the development of biomimetic solar energy systems and provide insight into the effectiveness of biomimetic thinking as a strategy for designing equitable, economical, and ecologically sound systems. / text

Semiconductor multijunction solar cell is a cutting-edge photovoltaic technology aimed at developing a frontier solution to the clean energy demand and environmental problem. Due to the efficient photoabsorption and energy conversion in the visible and near-infrared spectral ranges of the solar spectrum, the multijunction solar cell structures have shown an unprecedented application potential by demonstrating a solar conversion efficiency of over 44 %. Among various multijunction solar cell structural designs, the GaxIn1-xP/GaAs double-junction tandem structure is considered as the most fundamental building block for developing the industry-standard triple- and even more junction photovoltaic cells with super high efficiency. Therefore, obtaining a better and more in-depth understanding of physical properties of the GaxIn1-xP/GaAs double-junction tandem device structure, especially some fundamental optoelectronic processes in the individual structural layer, including photoexcitation, transport and the mid-way recombination of charge carriers, is crucial for further improving the energy conversion efficiency. In this thesis, the mid-way radiative recombination, diffusion transport, localization mechanism, and photocurrent spectra of charge carriers in the GaxIn1-xP/GaAs double-junction tandem solar cells grown on GaAs substrates with different misorientation angles were investigated in detail. Our main findings are summarized as below. Efficient radiative recombination of carriers in the GaxIn1-xP/GaAs double-junction tandem solar cell samples was demonstrated by using electroluminescence (EL) and photoluminescence (PL) techniques. The radiative recombination intensity was shown to be dependent on the intrinsic material-related parameters such as the doping concentration, growth thickness and the substrate misorientation angle both experimentally and theoretically. The radiative recombination was thus revealed to be an important loss channel of carriers in the GaxIn1-xP/GaAs double-junction tandem solar cells. Super strong transverse diffusion of minority carriers in the top GaxIn1-xP subcell was found by the micro-EL image surveying. Theoretical simulation on the experimental data shows that the minority carrier diffusion length is as long as ~93 μm at a forward bias of 2.75 V, which is ~30 times longer than that of unbiased GaxIn1-xP epilayer. Origin of this super transverse diffusion was argued, and its influence on device performance was also discussed. Significant correlations of carrier localization and luminescence behaviors with the substrate misorientation angle in the top GaxIn1-xP subcells were unveiled by excitation intensity- and temperature-dependent PL. The large difference in potential energy profile of GaxIn1-xP layers, caused by the different degrees of atomic ordering, was argued to interpret the observed PL distinctions. Vertical transport and photoresponse mechanisms of charge carriers in the GaxIn1-xP/GaAs double-junction tandem solar cells were studied by temperature- and reverse bias-dependent photocurrent (PC) spectroscopy. Both the temperature and reverse bias were shown to have significant impact on the device photoresponse, in particular on the photoresponse due to the absorption of photons with energy above the bandgap of GaAs and GaxIn1-xP, namely the supra-bandgap photoresponse. A model was proposed to simulate the observed temperature- and reverse-bias dependence of the supra-bandgap photoresponse. / published_or_final_version / Physics / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

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