Engineering antennas into solar panels

Researchers at EPFL have managed to combine antennas and solar cells to work together with unprecedented efficiency in a near future. 

This is a first step towards more compact and more lightweight satellites.

The technology could also be deployed in the autonomous antenna systems used in the aftermath of natural disasters.

Traditionally, telecommunication antennas and solar cells have never really worked well together, as they have to function independently of each other in order to avoid interference.

This has an impact on the weight and size of satellites - the surface area has to be large enough for both antenna systems, which emit and receive data, and solar panels, which supply the electricity.

For his master project, Philippe Dreyer, who is part of Julien Perruisseau-Carrier Group, has been working on ways to combine solar cells and antennas.

Julien Perruisseau-Carrier

In collaboration with the Transparent Conductive Oxides group (TCOs) which is part of the Photovoltaics and Thin Film Electronics Laboratory (PV-Lab), he has developed a mixed surface that allows both the antenna and the photovoltaic cell to perform extremely efficiently.

This could substantially reduce the volume, weight and cost of satellites but not only that. Mobile and autonomous communications systems are often necessary to keep in contact with people in the wake of a natural disaster.

This new technology would make these systems lighter and therefore easier to carry around. "Our device could also support flexible implementation.

It could be folded up so that it isn't deployed until the relief area has been reached," states Julien Perruisseau-Carrier, who supervised the project.

More information: "Copper and Transparent-Conductor Reflectarray Elements on Thin-Film Solar Cell Panels." Philippe Dreyer, Monica Morales-Masis, Sylvain Nicolay, Christophe Ballif, Julien Perruisseau-Carrier. arXiv:1311.4737 [physics.optics] arxiv.org/abs/1311.4737