diy solar

diy solar

Solar powered ebike

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.
 
Roop said:
The maths don't actually stack up and the charger output says 48V at 2.0A.
Click to expand...
48 volts at 2 Amps is 96 Watts which is close to the 89 Watts consumed at 238 volts. I would expect charging loss to reflect more Watts to be consumed than goes into the battery but the devices measuring those numbers may be inacurate.
 
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.
 
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...

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.
 
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.
 

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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.
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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.
 
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