Broadband end-on-fire antenna integrated with photovoltaic cell

Abstract

The broadband end-on-fire antenna works in the frequency band of 3.81 GHz to 8.97 GHz, a broadband end-on-fire antenna unit comprises a radiation main body, a feeder line and a parasitic structure, the radiation main body is formed by connecting solar battery pieces into solar battery piece strings and then connecting the solar battery pieces in parallel, the radiation main body is located on the upper surface of a dielectric plate, and the feeder line is connected with the parasitic structure. The feeder line is located on the lower surface of the dielectric plate for feeding, and port excitation is adopted for the radiation main body; and the parasitic structure is positioned on the outer side below the solar cells of the solar cell string, is connected with the solar cells and is used for improving impedance matching. By introducing the parasitic structure, the broadband antenna can cover the frequency band of 3.81-8.97 GHz, and the performance of the broadband antenna is realized. Besides, solar energy is fully utilized, the vertical design of the illumination direction and the communication direction of the antenna is realized, the relative bandwidth reaches 80.75%, and the system complexity is low.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the technical field of photovoltaic cell antennas, and in particular to a broadband end-fire antenna integrated with a photovoltaic cell sheet. Background Art

[0002] At present, the continuous innovation of science and technology has promoted the development of modern wireless communication technology, and the demand for antennas in communication systems is steadily increasing. Existing wireless communication systems mainly rely on fossil fuels for power supply. The gases emitted by the combustion of fossil fuels will cause the greenhouse effect, and the combustion residues will cause frequent smog weather. As a green and renewable energy source, solar energy has received widespread attention from scientific researchers. Solar cell antennas can generate photovoltaic power while performing wireless communications, which is one of the effective ways to achieve green communications.

[0003] However, the existing antennas have low utilization rate of solar energy, small solar cell patch area, complex structure and narrow frequency band. At the same time, the existing antennas are mainly side-firing antennas, and the illumination direction must be consistent with the communication direction of the antenna, while there is relatively little research on end-firing antennas. Summary of the invention

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to overcome the problems that the antenna in the prior art has low utilization rate of solar energy and the illumination direction must be consistent with the communication direction of the antenna, and to provide a broadband end-fire antenna with integrated photovoltaic cells, which achieves broadband end-fire performance by introducing a balanced feeding network.

[0005] A broadband end-fire antenna with integrated photovoltaic cells, operating in the 3.81-8.97GHz frequency band, wherein the broadband end-fire antenna unit comprises a radiating body, a feeder, and a parasitic structure. The radiating body is composed of solar cells forming a solar cell string and then connected in parallel, and is located on the upper surface of a dielectric plate. The feeder is located on the lower surface of the dielectric plate for feeding, and port excitation is used for the radiating body. The parasitic structure is located below and outside the solar cell of a string of solar cells and connected to the solar cell, so as to improve impedance matching.

[0006] Each solar cell is rectangular, 20.8 mm wide and 40.8 mm long.

[0007] Among them, one end of each string of solar cells serves as a negative electrode, and the other end serves as a positive electrode.

[0008] Each string of solar cells is connected in series via welding metal sheets at both ends thereof.

[0009] Wherein, the medium plate is a foam medium plate.

[0010] Wherein, the distance between the top of the parasitic structure and the bottom of the solar cell is 12.5 microns.

[0011] There are six solar cells, three of which are connected in series in a group, and two groups of solar cells are connected in parallel.

[0012] The parasitic structure includes three parasitic metal patches with the same structure, and one parasitic metal patch is arranged below and outside one of the solar cells.

[0013] The parasitic metal patch includes a bullet-shaped pointed metal sheet, and the top of the pointed metal sheet has a U-shaped groove.

[0014] The feeder lines are two U-shaped sheets with the same structure, arranged adjacently and spaced apart, and each feeder line spans two solar cells of a group of solar cell strings.

[0015] The broadband end-fire antenna with integrated photovoltaic cells of the present invention can cover the 3.81-8.97GHz frequency band by introducing a parasitic structure, achieving the performance of a broadband antenna. In addition, it has a high solar cell layout rate, fully utilizes solar energy, realizes the vertical design of the illumination direction and the communication direction of the antenna, and the relative bandwidth reaches 80.75%. The system complexity is low, and it has practical application and promotion value. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the broadband end-fire antenna integrated with photovoltaic cells of the present invention.

[0017] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the upper structure of the broadband end-fire antenna integrated with photovoltaic cells of the present invention.

[0018] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the lower structure of the broadband end-fire antenna integrated with photovoltaic cells of the present invention.

[0019] Figure 4 It is a relative bandwidth matching comparison diagram obtained by simulation when the broadband end-fire antenna parasitic structure of the integrated photovoltaic cell of the present invention is connected to or separated from the main structure.

[0020] Figure 5 It is a relative bandwidth matching comparison diagram obtained by simulation when the broadband end-fire antenna parasitic structure of the integrated photovoltaic cell of the present invention has a bullet-shaped tip and when it does not.

[0021] Figure 6 It is a relative bandwidth matching comparison diagram obtained by simulation when the broadband end-fire antenna parasitic structure of the integrated photovoltaic cell of the present invention has a U-shaped groove and when it does not.

[0022] Figure 7It is a relative bandwidth matching comparison diagram obtained by simulation when the broadband end-fire antenna of the integrated photovoltaic cell of the present invention has a parasitic structure and does not have a parasitic structure.

[0023] Figure 8 It is a gain diagram obtained by simulation after adding a parasitic structure to the broadband end-fire antenna of the integrated photovoltaic cell of the present invention.

[0024] Fig. 9 It is the radiation pattern on the H plane obtained by simulating the broadband end-fire antenna of the integrated photovoltaic cell of the present invention.

[0025] Fig.10 It is the radiation pattern on the E plane obtained by simulating the broadband end-fire antenna of the integrated photovoltaic cell of the present invention.

[0026] in:

[0027] 1. Solar cell; 2. Feeder; 3. Welded metal sheet; 4. Foam dielectric board; 5. Parasitic metal patch. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] The present invention will be further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present invention and are not used to limit the present invention.

[0029] See also Figures 1 to 3 As shown, a broadband end-fire antenna with integrated photovoltaic cells in an embodiment of the present invention operates in the 3.81-8.97 GHz frequency band. The broadband end-fire antenna unit includes a radiating body, a feeder, and a parasitic structure. The radiating body is composed of solar cells that form a solar cell string and are then connected in parallel. The radiating body is parallel to each other and is located on the upper surface of a dielectric plate. The feeder is located on the lower surface of the dielectric plate for feeding, and port excitation is used for the radiating body. The parasitic structure is located below and outside the solar cell of a string of solar cells and is connected to the solar cell. The parasitic structure interacts with the antenna body through electromagnetic coupling to change the current distribution on the antenna surface, thereby reducing the reflected energy and improving impedance matching.

[0030] The photovoltaic antenna with integrated photovoltaic cells of the present invention has a high solar cell distribution rate, fully utilizes solar energy, realizes the vertical design of the illumination direction and the communication direction of the antenna, has low system complexity, and has practical application and promotion value.

[0031] In one embodiment of the present application, each solar cell is rectangular in shape, of uniform size and specification, with a width of 20.8 mm and a length of 40.8 mm. Of course, other sizes may also be used, and are not limited thereto.

[0032] In one embodiment of the present application, one end of each string of solar cells serves as a negative electrode, and the other end serves as a positive electrode, and multiple strings of solar cells form a parallel structure.

[0033] In one embodiment of the present application, specifically, each string of solar cells is connected in series through welding metal sheets at both ends to form a solar cell string, and is arranged on the upper surface of a dielectric plate, with an overall area smaller than the area on the upper surface of the dielectric plate. The dielectric plate is preferably a rectangular plate, and the overall upper or lower surface area of ​​the solar cell is smaller than the area on the upper surface of the dielectric plate.

[0034] Preferably, in an embodiment of the present application, the medium plate is a foam medium plate. Of course, medium plates made of other available materials may also be used, without limitation thereto.

[0035] More preferably, in an embodiment of the present application, the distance between the top of the parasitic structure and the bottom of the solar cell is 12.5 microns.

[0036] As a preferred embodiment, the number of solar cells is six, three of which are connected in series in a group, and two groups of solar cells are connected in parallel. Figure 1 As shown, they are arranged on the upper surface of the dielectric plate, parallel to each other, and form a radiation body.

[0037] The parasitic structure includes three parasitic metal patches with the same structure, and one parasitic metal patch is arranged below and outside one of the solar cells.

[0038] In one embodiment of the present application, the parasitic metal patch includes a bullet-shaped pointed metal sheet, and the top of the pointed metal sheet has a U-shaped groove.

[0039] In one embodiment of the present application, the feeder lines are two U-shaped sheets with the same structure, arranged adjacently and spaced apart, and each feeder line spans across two solar cells of a group of solar cell strings.

[0040] Figure 4 The S11 comparison of the broadband end-fire antenna parasitic structure of the integrated photovoltaic cell sheet using the embodiment of the present invention when it is connected to and separated from the main structure is shown; Figure 5 The S11 comparison of the broadband end-fire antenna parasitic structure with and without the bullet-shaped tip of the integrated photovoltaic cell sheet using the embodiment of the present invention is shown; Figure 6 The S11 comparison of the broadband end-fire antenna parasitic structure with and without the U-shaped groove using the integrated photovoltaic cell sheet of the embodiment of the present invention is shown; Figure 7 The S11 comparison of the broadband end-fire antenna with and without parasitic structure using the integrated photovoltaic cell sheet of the embodiment of the present invention is shown; Figure 8The gain of the broadband end-fire antenna with integrated photovoltaic cells using the embodiment of the present invention when it has a parasitic structure is demonstrated.

[0041] It can be seen that the solar cell antenna provided by the present invention adopts this design method, covers the frequency band of 3.81-8.97 GHz, realizes 80.75% relative bandwidth matching design, and realizes broadband end-fire antenna design; and in the entire frequency band, the average gain is 4.21 dBi.

[0042] It can be seen that the broadband end-fire antenna with integrated photovoltaic cells in the embodiment of the present invention uses the port formed by six solar cells and welded metal sheets to radiate energy outward, so that the illumination direction is perpendicular to the communication direction of the antenna. Three sets of parasitic structures are used to improve the matching bandwidth of the antenna, and a relative bandwidth matching design of 80.75% is achieved. The system complexity is low and has practical application and promotion value.

[0043] Fig. 9 , Fig.10 The radiation patterns of the broadband end-fire antenna using the integrated photovoltaic cell of the embodiment of the present invention in the 7 GHz frequency band are respectively demonstrated. The radiation patterns conform to the characteristics of the end-fire antenna. The radiation energy of the E-plane (electric plane, i.e., the direction plane parallel to the direction of the electric field) and H-plane (magnetic plane, i.e., the direction plane parallel to the direction of the magnetic field) of the antenna has good stability, and the radiation pattern maintains good directivity in the target frequency band.

[0044] From the above description, it can be seen that the broadband end-fire antenna with integrated photovoltaic cells in the embodiment of the present invention adopts a port formed by six solar cells and welded metal sheets to radiate energy outward, realizes the integrated design of solar cell broadband antenna, and adds parasitic structures to improve matching. The relative bandwidth matching reaches 80.25%, the system complexity is low, and it has practical application and promotion value.

[0045] The basic principles and main features of the present invention and the advantages of the present invention are shown and described above. It is obvious to those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the details of the above exemplary embodiments, and the present invention can be implemented in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or basic features of the present invention.

[0046] Therefore, the embodiments should be considered in all respects as illustrative and non-restrictive, and the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description, and it is therefore intended that all changes falling within the meaning and range of equivalent elements of the claims are included in the present invention.

[0047] In addition, it should be understood that although the present specification is described according to implementation modes, not every implementation mode contains only one independent technical solution. This description of the specification is only for the sake of clarity. Those skilled in the art should regard the specification as a whole. The technical solutions in each embodiment may also be appropriately combined to form other implementation modes that can be understood by those skilled in the art.

Claims

1. A broadband end-fire antenna integrated with a photovoltaic cell, characterized in that: Working in the frequency band of 3.81-8.97GHz, the broadband end-fire antenna unit includes a radiating body, a feeder, and a parasitic structure. The radiating body is composed of solar cells forming a solar cell string and then connected in parallel, and is located on the upper surface of a dielectric plate. The feeder is located on the lower surface of the dielectric plate for feeding, and the radiating body is excited by a port; the parasitic structure is located below and outside the solar cell of a string of solar cells and is connected to the solar cell to improve impedance matching.

2. The broadband end-fire antenna integrated with a photovoltaic cell according to claim 1, characterized in that: Each solar cell is rectangular, 20.8 mm wide and 40.8 mm long.

3. The broadband end-fire antenna integrated with a photovoltaic cell according to claim 1, characterized in that: One end of each string of solar cells serves as the negative electrode, and the other end serves as the positive electrode.

4. The broadband end-fire antenna integrated with a photovoltaic cell according to claim 1, characterized in that: Each string of solar cells is connected in series via welded metal sheets at both ends.

5. The broadband end-fire antenna integrated with a photovoltaic cell according to claim 1, characterized in that: The medium plate is a foam medium plate.

6. The broadband end-fire antenna integrated with a photovoltaic cell according to claim 1, characterized in that: The distance between the top of the parasitic structure and the bottom of the solar cell is 12.5 microns.

7. The broadband end-fire antenna integrated with a photovoltaic cell according to claim 1, characterized in that: There are six solar cells, three of which are connected in series as a group, and two groups of solar cells are connected in parallel.

8. The broadband end-fire antenna integrated with a photovoltaic cell according to claim 7, characterized in that: The parasitic structure includes three parasitic metal patches, which have the same structure. One parasitic metal patch is arranged below and outside one of the solar cells.

9. The broadband end-fire antenna integrated with a photovoltaic cell according to claim 8, characterized in that: The parasitic metal patch comprises a bullet-shaped pointed metal sheet, and the top of the pointed metal sheet is provided with a U-shaped groove.

10. The broadband end-fire antenna integrated with a photovoltaic cell according to claim 1, characterized in that: The feeder lines are two U-shaped sheets with the same structure, arranged adjacently and spaced apart, and each feeder line spans across two solar cells of a group of solar cell strings.

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