Copper and Transparent-Conductor Reflectarray Elements on Thin-Film Solar Cell Panels

Design of an Optically Transparent Reflectarray for Solar Applications Using Indium Tin Oxide

“…There has been growing interest in combining ITO thin film technology with solar cells for satellite applications [14], [15]. However, using TCO materials in the design of the reflectarray introduces conductive losses not usually examined in reflectarray designs.…”

An Experimental Study on the Effect of Commercial Triple Junction Solar Cells on Patch Antennas Integrated on Their Cover Glass

“…The height of the AF32 glass is h = 1 mm, the glass is pre-cut by the manufacture to cover the solar cell seamlessly. The dielectric constant ( r ) and loss tangent (tanδ) of the AF32 glass are 4.5 and 0.015, both being measured at X band [17]. Finally, a patch antenna is screen printed on the AF32 cover glass with silver based conductive ink (124-46 by Creative Material).…”

“…Such an integration can be particularly valuable for a CubeSat (a very small satellite designed with modular components to have a minimum payload) [4] as the antennas, when effectively integrated with the solar cells, do not compete with solar cells for the limited surface real estate. There have been four main types of integrations reported: (1) antennas integrated under solar cells [1,[5][6][7]; (2) antennas integrated on the same plane with or on the side wall perpendicular to solar cells [8][9][10]; (3) antennas integrated on top of solar cells [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18], and (4) parts of the solar cells function as antenna [19][20][21] (the antenna in [7] also belongs to this category as the solar cell above the antenna acts as a parasitic elements of the antenna). The third type of integration is of particular interest and promise to a CubeSat system as the antenna topology, especially when it is small or optically transparent, facilitates a possible modular design.…”

Analysis of graphene based optically transparent patch antenna for terahertz communications

“…In [15], optical transmittance greater than 90% was observed in graphene films with a thickness of tens of nanometres in the 400 nm -1800 nm wavelength range. Integration of optically transparent antennas with solar cell can reduce the overall system size, weight, cost and visual disturbances [16]. In space applications like satellites, size and weight of the on-board payload are the two critical parameters.…”