diy solar

diy solar

Solar powered ebike

Roop said:
I dont have the luxury of a replacement battery. I get quite nervous thinking about the cost and availability of a replacement when I actually need one.
Click to expand...
A solar panel and charge controller are going to cost more than a small replacement battery. I would get very nervous riding an ebike with a solar panel above me or even on a trailer behind me.
 
McKravitts said:
I built my batteries myself out of 18650 batteries that I got cheap on ebay. I also got an inexpensive BMS. The case is just phenolic board and some high density foam then wrapped in PVC shrink wrap.

Not sure if you can beat the price with a solar panel, a way to either mount it to a bike or make a small trailer, a voltage regulator etc.

Not to mention the price of replacing the panel when it falls off, the tickets you might get from obstructing traffic, the trips to a doctor to treat the muscle strains you may get when you’re a few miles from home and the sun goes down and you have to peddle into the wind etc.
Click to expand...
Well my bike was 'promoted' as using samsung cells (i presume 18650's). Ive done approx 600 miles over 2 years- it's a 2 grand shopper. I would hope for another 600 but the clock is ticking and as I previously said a replacement on a 4 year old ebike is prohibitively unnecessary.

Interestingly, this concept is years old according to YT but I am very appreciative of the engagement. It's obviously remains in peeps minds.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20240327_211011_HDR.jpg
    IMG_20240327_211011_HDR.jpg
    234.8 KB · Views: 10
Ampster said:
A solar panel and charge controller are going to cost more than a small replacement battery. I would get very nervous riding an ebike with a solar panel above me or even on a trailer behind me.
Click to expand...
Have to disagree. A new batt, last time I looked, was 350 quid. A 180W panel and the 6 quid controller I have is less than 200. As Scottish Lenny says it might be cheaper to build my own batt pack.
BUT, installing a charging system now might extend the life of the current bat if I'm not bleeding it down to minimum every time I go out.
 
OP was not asking about the cost effectiveness of doing it, just about doing it. Im sure he is big enough to decide dollars for himself. He might just want to do it for fun.

Bicycles ARE traffic, they can use the road as a bike or as a bike with a trailer. The roads were originally paved for bicycles so it would be smoother to ride a bike on, not for cars. Cars benefitted from the paving just the same.

It might be possible to use a Ryobi 40 volt battery in place of a 36 or 38 volt battery if the electronics are rated for up to 48 volts. That is an easy solution to have a battery. I had a scooter someone gave me that ran on 36 volt batts, but it was out of production and a new batter for that was $500. Two Ryobi 40 volt batteries in parallel gave the same power and worked since the 36 volt controller was rated for up to 48 volts.
or it might not work and it might burn up the electronics.
I used fake "for ryobi" batteries, but were cheaper and can still use ryobi tools. Then you buy a battery adapter off ebay that clicks into the battery and you get two wires for pos and neg, $10 typically.

Extra batteries would be way more logical than a solar array unless OP plans a cross country trip with no way to recharge other than solar.
 
Roop said:
Have to disagree. A new batt, last time I looked, was 350 quid. A 180W panel and the 6 quid controller I have is less than 200. As Scottish Lenny says it might be cheaper to build my own batt pack.
BUT, installing a charging system now might extend the life of the current bat if I'm not bleeding it down to minimum every time I go out.
Click to expand...
WOW. Ebay has several 10 to 20Ah ebike batteries for under $200
Idk...
 
Roop said:
A new batt, last time I looked, was 350 quid.
Click to expand...
A complete new battery might cost that much. I found some small capacity ones online for a lot less. I keep one fully charged one in my saddle bag as a spare in case I am on a long ride and need a litle extra to get home. You may need some connectors but you would need those to connect your charge controller anyway.
 
McKravitts said:
I have an electric bike.
I have three batteries for it.
I rotate them so that one is fully charged at all times. One is on a solar charger and the other on the bike.
The time to fully charge one is about 4 hours, so every morning I have at least two fully charged. On a long ride I can keep an extra in a saddle bag.
It's far less of a hassle to drag an extra battery or two around on a bike than to drag a solar array.
Click to expand...
I carried an extra battery on my folding e-bike then after I retired I gifted the folding e-bikes to family and bought dual battery Cargo bikes. I can easily go over 60 miles even pulling our pup behind in a trailer. Charging 4 batteries and 2 helmet intercoms is under 450 watts. Easily charge them off solar on a sunny day. Unless I was taking a long trip I couldn't see toting a panel along. I have thought about the possibility of hooking up a 100ah 48 volt battery if my batteries ever go bad. Distance would be awesome! The largest I've seen on a factory e-bike is 60ah with a claim of over 200 miles. I have over 1800 miles on this e-bike so far.
 
Ampster said:
A complete new battery might cost that much. I found some small capacity ones online for a lot less. I keep one fully charged one in my saddle bag as a spare in case I am on a long ride and need a litle extra to get home. You may need some connectors but you would need those to connect your charge controller anyway.
Click to expand...
I stand corrected: https://eovolt.co.uk/collections/batteries-motors/products/eovolt-confort-20-bike-spare-battery
FUCK THAT. So Kravitts' comment makes more sense.
Oh, range 20 miles max at full power on flat ground. Basically eovolt; Range 70-100km. You're talking bollocks.
 
Last edited:
My butt can't handle the 4-6 hour ride time I get from my ebike already.
Minimoose said:
I carried an extra battery on my folding e-bike then after I retired I gifted the folding e-bikes to family and bought dual battery Cargo bikes. I can easily go over 60 miles even pulling our pup behind in a trailer. Charging 4 batteries and 2 helmet intercoms is under 450 watts. Easily charge them off solar on a sunny day. Unless I was taking a long trip I couldn't see toting a panel along. I have thought about the possibility of hooking up a 100ah 48 volt battery if my batteries ever go bad. Distance would be awesome! The largest I've seen on a factory e-bike is 60ah with a claim of over 200 miles. I have over 1800 miles on this e-bike so far.
Click to expand...
My butt can't handle more than 40 miles.
 
McKravitts said:
Maybe so, but what if it takes you two days because your dragging a solar array with you. Two days of lost wages can be pretty expensive.
Click to expand...

I was mostly just joking - should have made it more obvious. I look at the project and estimate a budget of ~ $1 - 1.5K but I am a bit jaded as everything always costs more to build than I have ever expected from my various hobbies and ventures. That is 5x his goal so the only "in budget" idea I could think of is to pedal.

I posted earlier a very viable technical solution but it didn't seen interesting and is definitely out of his budget.
 
HarryN said:
I was mostly just joking - should have made it more obvious. I look at the project and estimate a budget of ~ $1 - 1.5K but I am a bit jaded as everything always costs more to build than I have ever expected from my various hobbies and ventures. That is 5x his goal so the only "in budget" idea I could think of is to pedal.

I posted earlier a very viable technical solution but it didn't seen interesting and is definitely out of his budget.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately it was too tempting to not joke about it.
I did locate an ebike motor that was only 250 watts, which puts it slightly more in the "doable" category.
250 watts would only add an assist. That with the drag from a 250 watt panel would probably make it just as hard as no panel at all.
 
McKravitts said:
Unfortunately it was too tempting to not joke about it.
I did locate an ebike motor that was only 250 watts, which puts it slightly more in the "doable" category.
250 watts would only add an assist. That with the drag from a 250 watt panel would probably make it just as hard as no panel at all.
Click to expand...
Actually the drag from the motor is not inconsiderable. I have to have the power setting at 1 on level ground and rarely go below 2. I wonder if there's some kind of regeneration going on but I've no way of testing it.
 
McKravitts said:
Unfortunately it was too tempting to not joke about it.
I did locate an ebike motor that was only 250 watts, which puts it slightly more in the "doable" category.
250 watts would only add an assist. That with the drag from a 250 watt panel would probably make it just as hard as no panel at all.
Click to expand...

Experiments on my test stand and the panels on my SUV indicate that to generate 250 watts, it will take 2x that much in solar panel rating and really only provide that about 6 hrs / day.

There used to be some solar powered vehicle races across America university contests, not sure if they are still running or not. Perhaps it is possible to do a search and find info on it. There have to be write ups and videos on the subject.

Keep in mind that these were often used as product demonstrations by companies, so the students had access to equipment far more expensive than what you might want to do.

Follow the link in post #15 for some ideas, as that company is involved in that kind of work and their web site is pretty interesting. I use some of their products.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

A
Charge Ebike from lifepo4
Replies
10
Views
574
Minimoose
M
medic149
Motorhome Solar Conversion - All Electric Coach
2 3
Replies
52
Views
1K
sunshine_eggo
sunshine_eggo
Yurtdweller
Boost converter
Replies
3
Views
284
Yurtdweller
Yurtdweller
S
Do we know the real world lifespan of Plug'n'Play LFP batteries?
Replies
7
Views
482
Deleted member 91418
D
K
Protect vehicle alternator using RV solar charge controller?
Replies
7
Views
214
mikefitz
mikefitz

diy solar

diy solar
Back
Top