Integrated PV Antenna for Cooperative Light and RF Energy Harvesting in the RFID UHF Band

Abstract

The extensive deployment of edge nodes for the Internet of Things (IoT) raises concerns about electronic waste, especially considering batteries for powering those edge nodes. Energy harvesting presents a promising transition from battery-powered IoT nodes to battery-less ones. This paper presents a hybrid light-RF energy harvesting system utilising a metasurface patch antenna capable of simultaneous light and RF energy harvesting without mutual performance degradation. The meta-surface design improves the bandwidth and mitigates the negative effect of the solar panel on the antenna performance, achieving RF transparency. Our design operates across the entire RFID band (0.865-0.928 GHz) with a peak gain of 7 dBi at 0.868 GHz, harvesting 176 µW of light power at 155 lx and 20 µW of RF power over the air at 0.85 GHz, offering a sustainable pathway towards battery-less IoT nodes.