general charging + solar panel on a converted E bike (how?)

[Nealh]

18650 Li cells are the most frequently used cells in batteries, though the newer larger size 21700 are slowly be used as well now.
The M50 is the latter cell made by LG.
The other battery uses 18650 Samsung 29e cell.

As vfr has said what is your controller current ?

 

[FGreg]

Have you considered feeding the battery with a mobile solar panel?

 

[FGreg]

They are often used when traveling. You can learn more in this article - https://jt.org/easy-tips-on-choosing-the-right-microinverter-for-your-solar-system/

 

[matthewslack]

Hi, this would be the battery pack i would like to buy. (See below) I wanted to ask you guys first, before i make stupid decisions. What does the 50M stands for? Because i see on their website this make a big difference in the buying price.
https://enerprof.de/en/ebike-batteries/softpacks/36v-10s-batteries/435/softpack-battery-36v-15-ah-bms-20a-xlr-3-with-50m?c=90

If you can afford to get a good li ion battery then your range will not be a problem, so maybe sort that out first.

With your kit setup, you will be able to charge it with solar, quite easily, because you have not got Shimano or Bosch etc controlling your battery! But it will cost a bit, and has to be done carefully or things will break!

The main things you will need are a solar panel, and a special kind of solar charge controller. Where you need to be very careful is that some charge controllers need the battery connected before the solar panel - it is very easy to destroy this quite expensive item.

Solar panels that you carry on the bike need to be lightweight, and good ones are expensive.

Solar panels that stay at home or at work can be secondhand standard 250W or more panels, which can be cheap and perfectly good. These come up for sale when domestic systems are taken down, or solar farms upgrade. Think £50 or so for a 250W panel.

 

[Nealh]

ebike solar charging is impracticle for a moving bike as the array of panels need to be quite large for any decent charge and then there is the time needed for such a charge.
A touring set up in summer with a trailer might be better with panels on a trailer to charge a second batter.

 

[matthewslack]

ebike solar charging is impracticle for a moving bike as the array of panels need to be quite large for any decent charge and then there is the time needed for such a charge.
A touring set up in summer with a trailer might be better with panels on a trailer to charge a second batter.

For long rides, yes. But for commuting journeys of a few miles, panel size is not going to be the limiting factor because you have all day to charge whilst not being ridden.

As an example, my hilly 5 mile round trip consumes about 100Wh. On an average day in the summer half of the year, a 25 or 30W panel could cover that.

Cost wise, probably no point where mains is available but energy wise, makes good sense.

 

[Nealh]

That's why I said touring as touring involves distances, a complete waste of time for short journeys.
I have only met one ebiker using solar as an optional source for charging and that was for charging a spare battery. He was proper touring doing long rides with camping gear and a trailer.

 

[FGreg]

Have you guys ever wondered where these panels come from? Here is an interesting article on this topic. I will leave the link here - https://www.gildshire.com/the-history-of-solar-panels/

 

[FGreg]

I also recommend reading this article about conventional inverters. Find out how they work here

 

[matthewslack]

C

I also recommend reading this article about conventional inverters. Find out how they work here

Conventional inverters are of no use on a solar ebike. The critical components are robust efficient lightweight panels such as Sunpower and 'boost' mode solar charge controllers such as the Genasun and Elejoy.

 

[FGreg]

C

Conventional inverters are of no use on a solar ebike. The critical components are robust efficient lightweight panels such as Sunpower and 'boost' mode solar charge controllers such as the Genasun and Elejoy.

May be safe, but microinverters are more practical for panels

 

[FGreg]

If you are interested in how the panels for 24 watts. I recommend that you visit this article - here

 

[FGreg]

When you install solar panels you wonder what inverter to install. Normal or micro inverter. Here is an article on the subject

 

[matthewslack]

When you install solar panels you wonder what inverter to install. Normal or micro inverter. Here is an article on the subject

Seriously! Don't need inverters, micro or otherwise, on a solar ebike.

 

[GSV3MiaC]

You need something to turn the variable DC volts (depending on how bright it is) into either fixed DC to feed the battery, or 240v AC to feed the charger. There are some 12v (ish) panels to drive canal boats and caravans iirc, but not sure about 48+v ones to drive bike batteries.

 

[matthewslack]

You need something to turn the variable DC volts (depending on how bright it is) into either fixed DC to feed the battery, or 240v AC to feed the charger. There are some 12v (ish) panels to drive canal boats and caravans iirc, but not sure about 48+v ones to drive bike batteries.

Techniques and equipment are known and available, a good source of info is Grin's website blog at ebikes.ca, and for a top notch build story look up Mark Havran on endless-sphere.

The repeated links to inverters stuff above is not relevant to this thread.