A Ka-Band Reflectarray Antenna Integrated With Solar Cells

Author

Wenxing An ; Shenheng Xu ; Fan Yang ; Jianfeng Gao

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electron. Eng., Tsinghua Univ., Beijing, China

Volume

62

Issue

11

fYear

2014

fDate

Nov. 2014

Firstpage

5539

Lastpage

5546

Abstract

A Ka-band reflectarray antenna integrated with solar cells has been designed, manufactured and tested. The electromagnetic characteristics of solar cells as antenna substrates have been studied and measured. The simulation and measurement results of a reflectarray antenna prototype show good radiation characteristics with measured gain of 26.3 dBi and 1-dB gain bandwidth of 8.75%, while having an optical blockage of 17.6% on solar energy. The proposed technique integrates the two largest components on a satellite platform - solar cells and high gain antennas into one, significantly reducing the volume, mass and cost of satellites.

Keywords

microwave antenna arrays; reflectarray antennas; satellite antennas; solar cells; Ka-band reflectarray antenna; antenna substrates; gain 1 dB; gain 26.3 dB; optical blockage; solar cells; solar energy; Antenna measurements; Apertures; Gain measurement; Photovoltaic cells; Reflector antennas; Satellites; Solar energy; Antenna; integration; reflectarray; satellite communications; solar cell;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Antennas and Propagation, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-926X

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TAP.2014.2354424

Filename

6891194