Broadband Omnidirectional Rectenna with Integrated Solar Cell for Hybrid Energy Harvesting

Fei Cheng, Bu-Yun Cheng, Han-Ping Li and Wang Ni ()
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Fei Cheng: College of Electronics and Information Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
Bu-Yun Cheng: College of Electronics and Information Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
Han-Ping Li: College of Electronics and Information Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
Wang Ni: National Key Laboratory of Chemical and Physical Power Sources, Tianjin Institute of Power Sources, Tianjin 300384, China

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 19, 1-18

Abstract: This paper presents a broadband omnidirectional rectenna combined with a solar cell for hybrid energy harvesting, addressing the daytime-only limitation of solar cells via complementary RF energy harvesting. To avoid mutual interaction in integration, the solar cell is placed above the antenna to receive light/EM waves from different directions. A broadband discone antenna ensures omnidirectional RF reception from 1.56 to 6.63 GHz, while a single-stub matching circuit and voltage doubler enable rectifier operation from 1.4 to 3.6 GHz, with over 50% power conversion efficiency at 5 dBm. The measurement demonstrates that the hybrid system can yield 20.25 mW from combined RF/solar power. This broadband hybrid energy harvesting system shows potential for powering sensors throughout the day by integrating two complementary energy sources with minimal interaction.

Keywords: rectenna; solar cell; broadband; power conversion efficiency; hybrid energy harvesting (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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