Photovoltaic Antennas for Autonomous Wireless Systems

Author

Danesh, Mina ; Long, John R.

Author_Institution

Electron. Res. Lab., Delft Univ. of Technol., Delft, Netherlands

Volume

58

Issue

12

fYear

2011

Firstpage

807

Lastpage

811

Abstract

Photovoltaic (PV) antennas are used as both direct-current power source and radio-frequency radiator or receptor, resulting in a smarter integrated wireless system. Antenna designs and power management schemes for outdoor and indoor environments are proposed and compared. A dipole and a loop antenna based on amorphous-silicon PV cells were designed for 3.1-10.6 GHz ultrawideband communications. The harvested light energy is either stored in a supercapacitor or a rechargeable battery to ensure system autonomy. Both antenna prototypes are implemented in wireless sensor nodes, which transmit data packets every 8.5 s at 10 kb/s.

Keywords

dipole antennas; energy harvesting; loop antennas; photovoltaic power systems; ultra wideband antennas; ultra wideband communication; wireless sensor networks; PV cells; autonomous wireless systems; bit rate 10 kbit/s; dipole antenna; direct current power source; frequency 3.1 GHz to 10.6 GHz; light energy harvesting; loop antenna; photovoltaic antennas; power management schemes; radiofrequency radiator; time 8.5 s; ultrawideband communications; wireless sensor network; Batteries; Dipole antennas; Radio frequency; Ultra wideband antennas; Wireless communication; Wireless sensor networks; Energy harvesting; solar energy; ultrawideband (UWB) antennas; wireless communications;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Circuits and Systems II: Express Briefs, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1549-7747

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TCSII.2011.2173975

Filename

6093741