volume | PIER Journals

Abstract

Due to urgent needs for exploring new energy resources, a novel approach is developed in this paper to integrate the functions of a photovoltaic (PV) panel with an ultra-wide band (UWB) antenna array as a unit for collecting solar energy and RF radiation power. The UWB antenna is printed on the front panel of the PV surface. The antenna structure is customized with minimum shadowing effects on the PV surface, by using eight monopoles connected to one SMA port as a single antenna array. Then, to ensure the bandwidth enhancement, each monopole is coupled to three Split Ring Resonators (SRR) structured in a single column as a matching circuit. Next, an experimental study is performed to investigate the amount of the harvested energy from both the PV and the antenna array. The antenna experimental measurements are conducted to realize the I-V characteristics for the PV and produced output voltage and efficiency from the RF radiation power at 900 MHz only. Numerically, the proposed antenna array performance is simulated by CST MWS and HFSS software packages. Finally, the antenna performance in terms of S₁₁ and the radiation pattern at 900 MHz are measured and compared to the simulated results to end up with excellent agreements.

1. Politano, A., L. Viti, and M. S. Vitiello, "Optoelectronic devices, plasmonics and photonics with topological insulators," APL Materials, Vol. 5, No. 035504, Jun. 2017.

2. Politano, A. and G. Chiarello, "Plasmon modes in graphene: Status and prospect," Nanoscale, Vol. 6, No. 10927, May 2014.

3. Politano, A., A. Cupolillo, G. D. Profio, H. A. Arafat, G. Chiarello, and E. Curcio, "When plasmonics meets membrane technology," J. Phys.: Condens. Matter, Vol. 28, No. 363003, Aug. 2016.

4. Politano, A., G. D. Profioc, V. Sannad, and E. Curcioe, "Overcoming the temperature polarization in membrane distillation by thermoplasmonic effects activated in Ag nanofillers in polymeric membranes," Desalination, Vol. 60, Oct. 2018.

5. Politano, A., P. Argurio, G. D. Profio, V. Sanna, A. Cupolillo, S. Chakraborty, H. A. Arafat, and E. Curcio, "Photothermal membrane distillation for seawater desalination," Adv. Mater., Vol. 29, No. 1603504, Jan. 2016.

6. Viti, L., J. Hu, D. Coquillat, A. Politano, W. Knap, and M. S. Vitiello, "Efficient terahertz detection in black-phosphorus nano-transistors with selective and controllable plasma-wave, bolometric and thermoelectric response," Sci. Rep., Vol. 6, No. 20474, Nov. 2016.

7. Viti, L., D. Coquillat, A. Politano, K. Kokh, Z. Aliev, M. Babanly, O. E. Tereshchenko, W. Knap, E. Chulkov, and M. Vitiello, "Plasma-wave terahertz detection mediated by topological insulators surface states," Nano Lett., Vol. 16, No. 80, Dec. 2015.

8. Elwi, T. A., H. M. Al-Rizzo, N. Bouaynaya, M. M. Hammood, and Y. Al-Naiemy, "Theory of gain enhancement of UC-PBG antenna structures without invoking Maxwell’s equations: An array signal processing approach," Progress In Electromagnetics Research B, Vol. 34, 15-30, DOI 10.1007/s11277-017-4950-4, Sep. 2011.

9. Elwi, T. A., "A miniaturized folded antenna array for MIMO applications," Wireless Personal Communications, 1-13, 2017.

10. Brunelli, D., L. Benini, C. Moser, and L. Thiele, "An efficient solar energy harvester for wireless sensor nodes," 2008 Design, Automation and Test in Europe Conference, 104-109, Nov. 2008.

11. Abdin, Z., M. A. Alim, R. Saidur, M. R. Islam, W. Rashmi, and S. Mekhilef, "Solar energy harvesting with the application of nanotechnology," Renew Sustain Energy Rev., Vol. 26, 837-852, Oct. 2011.

12. Ackermann, T. and L. Sqder, "Wind energy technology and current status: A review," Renew Sustain Energy Rev., Vol. 4, 315-374, May 2000.
doi:10.1016/S1364-0321(00)00004-6

13. Joselin Herbert, G. M., S. Iniyan, E. Sreevalsan, and S. Rajapandian, "A review of wind energy technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 11, 1117-1145, Aug. 2007.
doi:10.1016/j.rser.2005.08.004

14. Sahin, A. D., "Progress and recent trends in wind energy," Prog. Energy Combust Scivol., Vol. 30, 501-543, Oct. 2013.

15. Lu, X. and S.-H. Yang, "Thermal energy harvesting for WSNs," 2010 IEEE International Conference on Systems Man and Cybernetics (SMC), 3045-3052, Mar. 2011.

16. Dalola, S., V. Ferrari, and D. Marioli, "Pyroelectric effect in PZT thick films for thermal energy harvesting in low-power sensors," Procedia Engvol., Vol. 5, 685-688, Dec. 2012.

17. Al-Adhami, Y. and E. Eçeleb, "Plasmonic metamaterial dipole antenna array circuitry based on flexible solar cell panel for self-powered wireless system," Microwave and Optical Technology Letters, Vol. 59, No. 9, 2365-2371, Sep. 2017.
doi:10.1002/mop.30747

18. Elwi, T. A., "Electromagnetic band gap structures based an ultra wideband microstrip antenna," Microwave and Optical Technology Letters, Vol. 59, No. 4, 827-834, Feb. 2017.
doi:10.1002/mop.30397

19. Elwi, T. A., "A miniaturized folded antenna array for MIMO applications," Wireless Personal Communications, 1-13, DOI 10.1007/s11277-017-4950-4, Sep. 2017.

20. Computer Simulation Technology, Microwave Studio (CST MWS), https://www.cst.com, 2014.

21. Azeez, A. R., T. A. Elwi, and Z. A. Abed AL-Hussain, "Design and analysis of a novel concentric rings based crossed lines single negative metamaterial structure," Engineering Science and Technology, An International Journal, Vol. 20, No. 3, 1140-1146, Nov. 2016.
doi:10.1016/j.jestch.2016.11.010

22. Elwi, T. A., "A further investigation on the performance of the broadside coupled rectangular split ring resonators," Progress In Electromagnetics Research Letters, Vol. 34, 1-8, 2012.
doi:10.2528/PIERL12070409

23. Ansoft’s High Frequency Structure Simulator HFSS, 2014, Available: http://www.ansoft.com.

24. Ali, E. M., N. Z. Yahaya, N. Perumal, and M. Azman, "A novel rectifying circuit for microwave power harvesting system," International Journal of RF and Microwave Computer-Aided Engineering, Jan. 2017.

25. Almoneef, T. S., F. Erkmen, and O. M. Ramahi, "Harvesting the energy of multipolarized electromagnetic waves," Nature Scientific Reports, DOI:10.1038/s41598-017-15298-5, Nov. 2017.

Dr. Yasir Al-Adhami

Dr. Ergun Erçelebi