Solar-powered light-modulated microwave programmable metasurface for sustainable wireless communications

Programmable metasurface holds big promise in wireless communications by virtue of its powerful capability in controlling electromagnetic waves. However, challenges exist for the programmable metasurface in achieving self-sufficient renewable energy supply and flexible and reliable multi-domain information transmissions. Here, we report a solar-powered light-modulated microwave programmable metasurface (SLMPM) by integrating a photovoltaic module to acquire information from modulated light and energy from sunlight simultaneously. Such an SLMPM enables direct, real-time, and reliable information transmissions from light to microwave domains under direct sunlight exposure, with the flexibility to implement various modulation schemes. Its low power consumption and on-board energy harvesting capability allows for 24 hours of light-to-microwave information transmission with 8 hours of sole sunlight energy input. A hybrid wireless communication system for real-time image transmission is demonstrated to show the outstanding features of SLMPM. We believe that SLMPM can contribute to the sustainable advancement of future wireless communications, rendering them more cost-effective, energy-efficient, environment-friendly, and ubiquitous. Achieving sustainability in wireless communications is crucial yet poses significant challenges. To address this, the authors propose and demonstrate a solar-powered programmable metasurface enabling hybrid light-to-microwave wireless communications.