Integration of Antenna Array with Multicrystalline Silicon Solar Cell

The integration of a low-profile antenna array with a multicrystalline silicon solar cell capable of powering a low power wireless sensor at 2.45 GHz is reported. Lattice bus bars on the cell are exploited to minimize antenna shadows from low profile antennas and transmission lines for a higher output power. The dual inverted-F array improves gain and beam switching enables the array to sweep a wider coverage angle with larger beamwidths compared to other solar integrated antennas.

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