A rectenna is a rectifying antenna, a special type of antenna that is used to directly convert microwave energy into DC electricity. Its elements are usually arranged in a mesh pattern, giving it a distinct appearance from most antennae.
A simple rectenna can be constructed from a schottky diode placed between antenna dipoles. The diode rectifies the current induced in the antenna by the microwaves.
Rectennae are highly efficient at converting microwave energy to electricity. In laboratory environments, efficiencies above 90% have been observed with regularity. Some experimentation has been done with inverse rectennae, converting electricity into microwave energy, but efficiencies are much lower—only in the area of 1%.
It has been theorized that similar devices, scaled down to the proportions used in nanotechnology, could be used to convert light into electricity at much greater efficiencies than what is currently possible with solar cells. This type of device is called an optical rectenna. Theoretically, high efficiencies can be maintained as the device shrinks, but experiments funded by the United States National Renewable Energy Laboratory have so far only obtained roughly 1% efficiency while using infrared light.
