Novel Biohybrid Photovoltaics for Expeditionary Energy

Abstract

Shifts within the priorities of the Department of Defense have led to an increase in modernization efforts. The drive towards modernization and new technology has highlighted the operational need for clean, renewable expeditionary energy sources for our armed forces. To meet these demands, acquisition offices, in partnership with academia and industry, are working to improve the efficiency and stability of advanced perovskite solar cells, to reduce the cost of energy produced on the battlefield. Biohybrid photovoltaics, solar cells that leverage the natural machinery of photosynthesis, do not demonstrate the power conversion efficiency or long term stability of other emerging photovoltaic systems. They do however offer a clean renewable energy supply, capable of supplementing the expeditionary energy mix. This present work aims to demonstrate a functional solid-state Biohybrid photovoltaic, designed with low cost materials and techniques, minimal environmental impact, that can be field-assembled, in order to demonstrate how these systems could be included as a future expeditionary energy capability. This work focused on entrapping Photosystem I (PSI) within and electropolymerized film of the conductive polymer Polyaniline, replacing planar precious metal electrodes with low-cost, high surface area carbon paper, and applying various advances in emerging photovoltaic design in an iterative process. The results suggest future applications of biohybrid photovoltaics to meet the growing expeditionary energy requirements.