volume | PIER Journals

Abstract

A new structure design of a dual-band suspended microstrip meshed patch antenna integrated with a polycrystalline silicon solar cell for Ku-band satellite applications is proposed and presented. This antenna element is a basic building block for a Ku-band meshed array antenna used for two-way satellite internet and TV applications at rural and remote locations. The antenna covers the operating frequency range from 11.7 GHz to 12.22 GHz downlink band and from 14.0 GHz to 14.5 GHz uplink band allocated by the ITU to the Regions 1 and 2. While achieving 500 MHz bandwidth across each band, fully covering the Ku-band uplink and downlink frequency bands, the antenna offers a single element gain of 6.05 dBi in the downlink band and 7.61 dBi in the uplink band. The antenna has been fabricated and measured, and good agreement is achieved between the experimental and simulated results. In addition, a good compromise between RF performance and optical transparency is obtained. The overall visible light transmission is found to be approximately 87%. A compact low-profile antenna element is also achieved.

1. Vaccaro, S., J. R. Mosig, and P. de Maagt, "Two advanced solar antenna ``SOLANT" designs for satellite and terrestrial communications," IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Vol. 51, No. 8, 2028-2034, Aug. 2003.
doi:10.1109/TAP.2003.815424 Google Scholar

2. Lee, R., E. Clark, D. Wilt, A. Pal, F. Miranda, C. Mueller, et al. "Integrated solar cell array antenna for satellite and terrestrial communications," 2005 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium, 231-234, 2005.
doi:10.1109/APS.2005.1551529 Google Scholar

3. Maharaja, M. and C. Kalaiselvan, "Integration of antennas and solar cells for satellite and terrestrial communication," International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Vol. 3, 2013. Google Scholar

4. Dreyer, P., M. Morales-Masis, S. Nicolay, C. Ballif, and J. Perruisseau-Carrier, "Copper and transparent-conductor reflectarray elements on thin-film solar cell panels," IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Vol. 62, 3813-3818, 2014.
doi:10.1109/TAP.2014.2316539 Google Scholar

5. Bendel, C., J. Kirchhof, and N. Henze, "Application of photovoltaic solar cells in planar antenna structures," Proceedings of 3rd World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, 220-223, 2003. Google Scholar

6. Baccouch, C., D. Bouchouicha, H. Sakli, and T. Aguili, "Patch antenna based on a photovoltaic cell with a dual resonance frequency," Advanced Electromagnetics, Vol. 5, No. 3, 42-49, Nov. 11, 2016.
doi:10.7716/aem.v5i3.425 Google Scholar

7. Roo-Ons, M. J., S. V. Shynu, M. J. Ammann, S. J. McCormack, and B. Norton, "Transparent patch antenna on a-Si thin-film glass solar module," Electronics Letters, Vol. 47, No. 2, 85-86, Jan. 2011.
doi:10.1049/el.2010.7397 Google Scholar

8. Shynu, S. V., M. J. Ons, P. McEvoy, M. J. Ammann, S. J. McCormack, and B. Norton, "Integration of microstrip patch antenna with polycrystalline silicon solar cell," IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Vol. 57, No. 12, 3969-3972, Dec. 2009.
doi:10.1109/TAP.2009.2026438 Google Scholar

9. Shynu, S., M. R. Ons, M. Ammann, S. Gallagher, and B. Norton, "Inset-fed microstrip patch antenna with integrated polycrystalline photovoltaic solar cell," The Second European Conference on Antennas and Propagation, 2007, EuCAP 2007, 1-4, 2007. Google Scholar

10. Tanaka, M., Y. Suzuki, K. Araki, and R. Suzuki, "Microstrip antenna with solar cells for microsatellites," Electronics Letters, Vol. 31, 5-6, 1995.
doi:10.1049/el:19950010 Google Scholar

11. Yurduseven, O., D. Smith, and M. Elsdon, "A transparent meshed solar monopole antenna for UWB applications," 2014 8th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP), 2145-2149, 2014.
doi:10.1109/EuCAP.2014.6902233 Google Scholar

12. Fawole, O. and R. Baktur, "Multifunction solar panel antenna for cube satellites," 2012 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium (APSURSI), 1-2, 2012. Google Scholar

13. Yurduseven, O., D. Smith, N. Pearsall, I. Forbes, and D. Johnston, "A meshed multiband solar patch array antenna," Antennas and Propagation Conference (LAPC), 2012 Loughborough, 1-5, 2012. Google Scholar

14. Elsdon, M., O. Yurduseven, and X. Dai, "Wideband metamaterial solar cell antenna for 5 GHz Wi-Fi communication," Progress In Electromagnetics Research C, Vol. 71, 123-131, 2017.
doi:10.2528/PIERC16110302 Google Scholar

15. O’Conchubhair, O., P. McEvoy, and M. J. Ammann, "Dye-sensitized solar cell antenna," IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters, Vol. 16, 352-355, 2017.
doi:10.1109/LAWP.2016.2576687 Google Scholar

16. Turpin, T. W. and R. Baktur, "Meshed patch antennas integrated on solar cells," IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters, Vol. 8, 693-696, 2009.
doi:10.1109/LAWP.2009.2025522 Google Scholar

17. Yasin, T. and R. Baktur, "Circularly polarized meshed patch antenna for small satellite application," IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters, Vol. 12, 1057-1060, 2013.
doi:10.1109/LAWP.2013.2280131 Google Scholar

18. Balanis, C., Antenna Theory Analysis and Design, 3rd Ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Publication, 2005.

Dr. Farhat M. E. Nashad

Dr. Stephen Foti

Dr. David Smith

Dr. Michael Elsdon

Dr. Okan Yurduseven