A Broadband Antenna With Folded Structure and Packaged Solar Cell

A broadband folded antenna with horizontal and vertical structures is proposed for 2G/3G/4G/5G sub-6-GHz applications. With the packaging process, two solar cells are mounted on the horizontal structure to replace the metallic patch for green communications. Due to the limitation of the regular shape of the solar cell, the existing unidirectional designs have achieved a bandwidth of 60.5% with solar cells for radiation directly. Compared with previous work, this design proposes a folded structure for solar cell antennas to increase the design flexibility. This multiresonant structure with horizontal and vertical parts can stimulate high-order mode to enhance the broadband performance. Furthermore, this folded design can manipulate the current distribution for stable radiation performance. The measured −10-dB band is from 1.7 to 3.85 GHz with a relative bandwidth of 77.4%. Unidirectional patterns are obtained with a peak gain of 5.96 dBi. Solar cells cover 55% of the top area for energy self-sufficiency. With the capacity for photovoltaic power generation, this dual-function device would be a competitive candidate for future low-carbon communications.