Development of transparent patch antenna element integrated with solar cells for Ku-band satellite applications

In this paper, a design of broadband compact microstrip meshed patch antenna integrated with solar cells for Ku-band satellite applications is presented. A Plexiglas transparent substrate is also employed to enable the light to pass through with high efficiency to illuminate the solar panel cells while the RF performance is maintained with minimal degradation. This meshed patch antenna for two-way satellite internet and TV applications at remote areas, covering the communications frequency range from 11.7GHz to 12.22GHz (downlink) and 14.0GHz to 14.5GHz (uplink) bands allocated by the ITU to the Regions 1 and 2. The effect of replacing the solid elements of a microwave suspended patch antenna with meshed element is examined. A compact flat meshed element is obtained and simulated in CST Microwave Studio and achieved the broadband width of 500 MHz in both portions and the nominal element gain is 7.47dBi downlink and 8.51 dBi uplink, suffering only by 0.23 dBi and 0.14 dBi respectively, comparing to the original suspended solid patch antenna design. The visible light transmission is found at normal incidence and an oblique angle to be approximately 87% and 80%, respectively.