A Compact Dual-Polarized Solar Cell Phased Array Antenna

In this letter, a broadband compact dual-polarized solar cell phased array antenna is proposed. The proposed dual-polarized dipoles are arranged in a "T" shape, which not only makes the antenna compact and easy to fabricate, but also expands the working bandwidth by utilizing the coupling between the tightly arranged dipoles. Moreover, metal split-rings are introduced to further improve the impedance match and finally achieve a broad bandwidth of 1.1 GHz to -2.5 GHz and a large-angle two-dimensional phase scanning ability of +/- 45 degrees under a low profile of 0.08 lambda(0) (lambda(0) is the free-space wavelength at the center frequency). The measured maximum realized gain is 10.86 dBi for a horizontally polarized antenna, and the measured radiation efficiency is 61%-88.3% in the working frequency band. Moreover, the solar cells can achieve 100% insolation with an expected solar cell coverage ratio of 77.8%. This compact dual-polarized solar cell phased array antenna is scalable and exhibits promising usage in green wireless communication systems.