Photovoltaic Antennas for Autonomous Wireless Systems

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.