"Solar electric bicycle" ride - no battery power required
- 10 years ago
Sun powered electric bicycle ride
When the sun is shining and the ground is level my electric mountain bike will continue to roll forward with no pedaling or battery power required, powered only by sunshine. Successfully demonstrating my design. When I do pedal however... the e-bike becomes a solar power assisted e-bike.
I tried to climb some small hills, works but still very slow...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lqqar1isI78
Bike weight with out solar kit: 40 lbs
Bicycle solar kit: under 5 lbs
Open voltage: 10 volts DC
Current: 10 amps DC (under load the PV output drops)
top speed: 7 km/h
Next year Im setting two goals to reach:
1. break 10 km/h
2. reach +15km/h
Perhaps next year SunPower Corp. or another manufacturer of high efficiency back contact solar cells will sell the cells on the open market for DIY projects. At this time I'm only able to find bin C grade cells (rejects) from SunPower thru internet channels, which are rated 21% efficient but they have been rejected for use in new panels so they probably average around 18% efficient.
The white reflectors I've attached on the sides of the solar panels provide a noticeable difference in output from a wider degree of angle to the sun, they reflect diffuse light and are typically used for light fixtures. The material was donated by WhiteOptics.com.
Some people in the past have commented that my mountain bike design is not ideal for reaching top speeds etc.. because of the added wind resistance from the panels... My reply is that speeds under 15-20 km/h wind resistance is minimal and rolling resistance is a greater factor.
My solar panels are very lightweight and the prototype weighed just 100g. They survived over 600km strapped to the back of my bike as I spent 16 days trekking across British Columbia, Canada.this summer. Noticeable scratches and small abrasions are covering the Fluorinated ethylene propylene or FEP top sheets and just 3 cells have incurred damage. Though they still provide enough solar juice for this video to be made !
thanks for watching..
Project: Solar-Cross
http://www.solar-cross.thekpv.com
https://www.facebook.com/SolarCross.Ebike
https://plus.google.com/+TerryHope
--
Night of the Owl by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
When the sun is shining and the ground is level my electric mountain bike will continue to roll forward with no pedaling or battery power required, powered only by sunshine. Successfully demonstrating my design. When I do pedal however... the e-bike becomes a solar power assisted e-bike.
I tried to climb some small hills, works but still very slow...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lqqar1isI78
Bike weight with out solar kit: 40 lbs
Bicycle solar kit: under 5 lbs
Open voltage: 10 volts DC
Current: 10 amps DC (under load the PV output drops)
top speed: 7 km/h
Next year Im setting two goals to reach:
1. break 10 km/h
2. reach +15km/h
Perhaps next year SunPower Corp. or another manufacturer of high efficiency back contact solar cells will sell the cells on the open market for DIY projects. At this time I'm only able to find bin C grade cells (rejects) from SunPower thru internet channels, which are rated 21% efficient but they have been rejected for use in new panels so they probably average around 18% efficient.
The white reflectors I've attached on the sides of the solar panels provide a noticeable difference in output from a wider degree of angle to the sun, they reflect diffuse light and are typically used for light fixtures. The material was donated by WhiteOptics.com.
Some people in the past have commented that my mountain bike design is not ideal for reaching top speeds etc.. because of the added wind resistance from the panels... My reply is that speeds under 15-20 km/h wind resistance is minimal and rolling resistance is a greater factor.
My solar panels are very lightweight and the prototype weighed just 100g. They survived over 600km strapped to the back of my bike as I spent 16 days trekking across British Columbia, Canada.this summer. Noticeable scratches and small abrasions are covering the Fluorinated ethylene propylene or FEP top sheets and just 3 cells have incurred damage. Though they still provide enough solar juice for this video to be made !
thanks for watching..
Project: Solar-Cross
http://www.solar-cross.thekpv.com
https://www.facebook.com/SolarCross.Ebike
https://plus.google.com/+TerryHope
--
Night of the Owl by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/