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Photovoltaic panel as metamaterial antenna radome for dual‐band application
Author(s) -
Pu TaChun,
Lin HungHsuan,
Wu ChunYih,
Chen JuiHung
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
microwave and optical technology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.304
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1098-2760
pISSN - 0895-2477
DOI - 10.1002/mop.26234
Subject(s) - photovoltaic system , dipole antenna , metamaterial , electrical engineering , multi band device , optoelectronics , radome , antenna (radio) , optics , antenna measurement , antenna gain , materials science , engineering , antenna factor , electronic engineering , physics
A novel planar dual‐band antenna is presented by using a panel of photovoltaic (PV) cells as a metamaterial layer for dual‐band operation. A 10‐Watt, 72‐cell unmodified commercial PV panel is applied as a transparent layer in the first operation band and as a semitransparent layer for λ/2 Fabry‐Pérot cavity in the second operation band to achieve high antenna gain. Unit‐cell transmission analysis is adopted to determine the frequency point of operation. And the screen impedance technique is utilized to increase simulation efficiency. The proposed prototype, measured as 360 × 320 × 44 mm, achieves remarkable 17.3 and 6.6 dBi antenna gain at 3.50 and 1.23 GHz, respectively, by a dual‐band dipole feeding. With the aid of PV panel, the antenna can support an upper band at about 3550 MHz to cover the WiMAX (3400–3600 MHz) operation and a lower band at about 1185 MHz to cover the 70 MHz operation bandwidth. The very combination of PV cell and antenna exhibits high fill factor, high‐gain, and simple construction characteristics. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53:2382–2388, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.26234