A Metal Solar-Cell Phased Array Antenna

This study proposes a metal solar-cell phased array antenna of 36 units with a rectangular grid, which is composed of leaf-shaped metal radiators, feeding and ground probes, a solar cell, and a metal ground. The metal leaf-shaped radiators are vertically welded on the metal ground through feeding and ground probes. The solar cell is located on the metal ground of the antenna, and 36 holes are dug to ensure that the feeding probes and the ground probes can pass through the solar cell without connection. The radiators are hollowed out to reduce the shadow area on the solar cell from sunlight. We have fabricated a sample of the solar-cell antenna and further measured the electromagnetic characteristics and its power output performance. The measured results agree with the simulated results well. The proposed solar-cell phased array antenna has a wide working bandwidth of 3–5 GHz, a wide 2-D phase scanning angle of ±45°, a high aperture efficiency of 74.1%–86.9%, and a high average relative maximum output power ratio of 96.2% compared with the same pure solar cell. This metal solar-cell phased array antenna is scalable and can be used for CubeSats.