Circularly Polarized Transparent Microstrip Patch Reflectarray Integrated with Solar Cell for Satellite Applications

Abstract

Circularly polarized (CP) transparent microstrip reflectarray antenna is integrated with solar cell for small satellite applications at 10 GHz. The reflectarray unit cell consists of a perfect electric conductor (PEC) square patch printed on an optically transparent substrate with the PEC ground plane. A comparison between using transparent conducting polymers and using the PEC in unit-cell construction has been introduced. The waveguide simulator is used to calculate the required compensation phase of each unit cell in the reflectarray. The radiation characteristics of 13 × 13 CP transparent reflectarray antenna are investigated. A circularly polarized horn antenna is used to feed the reflectarray. The solar cell is incorporated with the transparent reflectarray on the same area. The solar-cell integration with the reflectarray reduces the maximum gain by about 0.5 dB due to the increase in the magnitude of the reflection coefficient. The results are calculated using the finite integral technique (FIT).