High Efficiency 2.496 Ghz Class E Power Amplifier for Space Based Solar Power Applications

The issues associated with the constant growth in energy demand have led several countries to explore alternative solutions for the development of firm low-carbon energy sources. Space Based Solar Power is a promising system concept, with the potential of providing re-dispatchable clean energy directly from space. The concept is based on gathering energy in space through solar panels and sending it to Earth via a reconfigurable antenna array of millions of Watt-level amplifiers and antennas, operating at a frequency of around 2.496 GHz to form a narrow beam. Power density and losses associated with the electronics can be significant bottlenecks in the development of this technology, since the system needs to be light, compact and resilient to facilitate its deployment in space and prevent critical components failure over a long period of time. The design of a suitable power amplifier topology to drive the individual antenna elements is a critical step to facilitate the deployment of the system. In this paper we present a Class E power amplifier capable of delivering 5 W to a 50 Ohm load with a peak drain efficiency close to $80 \%$ for gains between 8 dB and 12 dB and a power density up to $0.63 \mathrm{~W} / \mathrm{cm}^{2}$.