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

Abstract

Optically transparent planar antennas made of Transparent Conductive Oxide (TCO) have attracted considerable attention in research over the years, particularly for solar panel applications. However, their design has proven difficult due to their inherent conductor losses. This paper focuses on the design of an optically transparent reflectarray using Indium Tin Oxide (ITO), which is a type of transparent conducting oxide (TCO). The design is composed of sub-wavelength rectangular patch elements, which exhibit 272 • of phase range and mitigate conductor losses in reflectarray operation. This paper examines the behavior and response of lossy reflectarray unit cells, and investigates different techniques to reduce the impact of loss in TCO reflectarray designs, primarily using different patch geometries and sub-wavelength elements. The proposed element design is simulated and experimentally characterized. A full reflectarray prototype operating at 26 GHz is successfully demonstrated and fabricated, with simulated and experimental results in good agreement.

A Millimeter-Wave Multibeam Transparent Transmitarray Antenna at Ka-Band

“…Therefore, optically transparent and planar antennas are attractive to minimize the visual impact of such deployments. This antenna topology could be Manuscript widely integrated on windows of buildings, windshields of vehicles and solar panels, without obstructing the sight and absorbing energy from sun light [2]. They are also promising candidates for communication systems in smart street furniture [3].…”

Transparent dual band Wi‐Fi filter for double glazed energy saving window as a smart network

“…Another idea of spatial filters is a 5 GHz band rejection with stable responses for polarizations and oblique incidence angles in Reference . In addition, an optically transparent reflect‐array has been designed using ITO with subwavelength rectangular patch elements for solar panel applications by Kocia and Hum . As given in Reference , a transparent window has been studied to pass 5 GHz frequency waves.…”

“…In addition, an optically transparent reflect-array has been designed using ITO with subwavelength rectangular patch elements for solar panel applications by Kocia and Hum. 10 As given in Reference 11, a transparent window has been studied to pass 5 GHz frequency waves. Moreover, an absorb/transmit FSS is presented for 5 GHz wireless local area network (WLAN) to reduce additional multipath caused by the FSS in Reference 12.…”

Silver Nanowire based Flexible, Transparent, Wideband Antenna for 5G Band Application

“…Generally, the conventional antennas showing optical transparency are made of transparent conducting oxides, for example, Indium Tin Oxide (ITO), which also shows high conductivity [3,4]. However, the extensively studied ITO suffers from many drawbacks, such as high cost due to the rare material Indium, complex fabrication procedures and limited mechanical flexibility due to brittle behavior.…”