Integrated solar cell array antenna for satellite and terrestrial communications

This paper describes a feasibility study of integrating photovoltaic solar cells in planar antenna structure. The approach for the solar array development is based on monolithic interconnected module (MIM) and GaAs technologies, which is structurally more compact and has higher efficiency compared to Si solar array based on hybrid approaches. To facilitate integration and provide maximum real estate for the solar array, miniaturized patch antennas with coplanar waveguide (CPW)/slotline feed were employed. In the paper, the design of a 2times2 array, the main feature of the proposed approach and experimental results would be presented and discussed