Radiative recombination of carriers in two kinds of GaxIn 1-xP/GaAs double-junction tandem solar cell structures was investigated by using room-temperature electroluminescence (EL) and photoluminescence (PL) techniques. Efficient radiative recombination was observed simultaneously in the top and the bottom subcells in both the samples. By studying the behavior of EL and PL spectra, the radiative recombination intensity ΦEL was demonstrated to be reliant on the material-dependent radiative recombination coefficient, base layer doping concentration and thickness. Furthermore, dependence of ΦEL on substrate misorientation in both the subcells was also evidenced, which was explained in terms of the growth-induced variations in microstructure for the GaInP top cell and in potential barrier profile across the p-n junction for the GaAs bottom cell. Based on these observations, the radiative recombination in the two base layers of the subcells was demonstrated to be the major carrier loss mechanism in the GaxIn1-xP/GaAs double-junction tandem photovoltaic devices and should be suppressed. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.