Low-Profile Antenna Integrated With Solar Cells for the 2.4 GHz Band

Lee

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

This paper presents an ultra-low-profile copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) based solar cell integrated antenna with a high form factor. A tiny slot was etched from the solar cell to develop an ultra-low-profile solar-cell-integrated antenna. This tiny slot increases the form factor due to the small clearance area from the solar cell. A ground-radiation antenna design method was applied in which lumped elements were employed inside the tiny slot for antenna operation. Another substrate was used under the solar cell for designing the feeding structure with lumped elements connected to the tiny slot using via holes. A prototype was fabricated and measured to verify the operation of a built-in solar-cell antenna and validate the simulated results. The measured results demonstrate that the solar-cell-integrated antenna covers the entire frequency range of the Industrial Scientific Medical band, from 2.4 to 2.5 GHz, with a maximum gain of 2.79 dBi and radiation efficiency higher than 80% within the impedance bandwidth range. Moreover, the proposed design has an ultra-low-profile structure of only 0.0046 λo, where λo represents the free space wavelength at 2.45 GHz, and a high form factor of 99.1% with no optical blockage. The antenna and solar cell were designed to avoid affecting the performance of each other using the radio-frequency decoupler.

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A solar cell has been integrated with a dipole antenna for energy harvesting and wireless communications 19 , whereas a solar-cell-integrated antenna has been proposed for 2.4 GHz applications with a low profile structure 20 . Different antenna arrays have been integrated with a solar cell 21 – 25 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ultra-low profile solar-cell-integrated antenna with a high form factor

Ahmed

Lee

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

“…Measured gains of 4.7 and 5.5 dBi have been realized at 2.4 and 5.8 GHz, respectively. Using the solar cells as a radiation structure, a single-band low-profile antenna was investigated at 2.4 GHz with measured gain of 8.55 dBi at 2.4 GHz [26]. A slot antenna integrated with solar cells was discussed in [27].…”

Section: Experimental Verificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The disadvantage is that the radiator will cause certain optical blockages. For the third type, the solar cells are adopted for the radiation structure directly [22][23][24][25][26][27]. It contains the dipole [22], shorted patch [23,24], microstrip [25,26], slot [27,28], and Vivaldi antennas [29].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dual-Band Antenna Integrated With Solar Cells for WLAN Applications

Luo

2021

Front. Phys.

Self Cite

A single-port dual-band antenna integrated with solar cells is reported for the 2.4/5-GHz wireless local area network (WLAN) applications. Thirty solar cells are adopted and integrated into the antenna structure for both energy harvesting and wireless communication. The solar cells can act as a director for the lower band, and the main radiation structure for the higher band. The slot and microstrip antennas are incorporated into the compact structure and multiple resonant modes are utilized for dual-band performance. The measurement results show that the lower band is from 2.27 to 2.5 GHz with an omnidirectional radiation pattern and the upper band is from 4.8 to 6.9 GHz with a directional radiation pattern. The proposed solar cell antenna can provide a dual-band performance with the ability of DC power generation, which can be a potential candidate for future green low-carbon communication.

“…A solar cell has been integrated with a dipole antenna for energy harvesting and wireless communications 16 , whereas a solar-cell-integrated antenna has been proposed for 2.4 GHz applications with a low pro le structure 17 . Different antenna arrays have been integrated with a solar cell [18][19][20][21][22] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ultra-Low Profile Solar-Cell-Integrated Antenna With a High Form Factor

Ahmed

Lee

et al. 2021

Preprint

This paper presents an ultra-low-profile copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) based solar cell integrated antenna with a high form factor. A tiny slot was etched from the solar cell to develop an ultra-low-profile solar-cell-integrated antenna. This tiny slot increases the form factor due to the small clearance area from the solar cell. A ground-radiation antenna design method was applied in which lumped elements were employed inside the tiny slot for antenna operation. Another substrate was used under the solar cell for designing the feeding structure with lumped elements connected to the tiny slot using via holes. A prototype was fabricated and measured to verify the operation of a built-in solar-cell antenna and validate the simulated results. The measured results demonstrate that the solar-cell-integrated antenna covers the entire frequency range of the Industrial Scientific Medical band from 2.4 to 2.5 GHz with good performance characteristics. The proposed design has a low-profile structure with high optical transparency for solar cells. The antenna and solar cell were designed to avoid affecting the performance of each other using the radio-frequency decoupler.