Integrated Solar Mesh Dipole Antenna Based Energy Harvesting System

Abstract

This paper presents a Sunlight-Radio Frequency (RF) energy harvesting system built on Solar Panel Mesh Dipole Antenna integration. The dipole antenna mesh is mounted on the surface of the solar panel at the separations between the cells. This configuration maximizes the absorption of both solar and RF energies. Further, the multiple mesh antennas are integrated vertically to increase the RF harvested power. Each antenna output is connected to a six-stage RF-Voltage Doubler Rectifier (RF-VDR) circuit to convert the RF signal to a direct current (DC) and added to the solar panel DC output. This paper involves the design analysis of the antenna parameters, the integration process, and the design of the RF matching circuit. Prototype tests show that the proposed mesh dipole antenna has 83% efficiency. This is better than earlier similar designs published. From previous designs, the measured RF to DC conversion efficiency (CE) of the VDR circuit was merely 62% when the RF input equals -14 dBm. Moreover, the solar panel efficiency has been enhanced by 41.3 % when the input RF power density equals 49.16 mW/m 2 . Finally, the results proved that the proposed solar antenna system achieves 28.5 % power CE and outperforms the others that use transparent patch antennas.

Graded-Index Active Layer for Efficiency Enhancement in Polymer Solar Cell

“…This result indicates that the cell optimum PCE of 25.1% was achieved when we optimized the thicknesses of PBDB-T:GI-PZT active layer, ITO layer thickness, PEDOT:PSS confinement layer, and TiO 2 confinement layer at 310 nm, 550 nm, 52 nm, and 47 nm, respectively. The design of the ITO layer was presented in [26,27]. After the optimization of the cell dimensions, the absorption coefficient of the proposed cell was compared with that of the same cell of different active-layer materials, such as PBDB-T:PZT and PBDB-T:PZT-γ, as shown in Figure 5.…”

“…Refs. [24][25][26][27] included the deposition of organic polymer films for solar-cell applications, multilayered polymer materials based on polymeric ammonium cations for stable large-area solar cells, polymer doping for high-efficiency solar cells with improved moisture stability, low-temperature processed high-performance thick-film ternary polymer solar cell with enhanced stability and solar cells using indium tin oxide thin film to enhance the solar absorption. The most-expected results from these works is the solar-cell stability at a 7-25% increase in conversion efficiency compared with the simple planner cell.…”

“…Nano-solar cells can be used in different applications, as they can be used as a substitute for earphones and mobile phone chargers [24][25][26][27][28]. They can also be manufactured with these devices, such that some of them are inseparable.…”

A Review of Circularly Polarized Dielectric Resonator Antennas: Recent Developments and Applications

“…Micromachines 2022, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW 28 of 34 method has limited applications especially for broadside antennas. By integrating the antenna on top of solar cells, the required coverage will be improved for many applications, but it may reduce solar cell efficiency due to the shadowing effects of the antenna [119].…”