Solar charging..

[Last Heart]

So I've got a Kudos Stealth coming in a few days, ( which I'll be sure to post a review of, as there's not really any I could find on the web )
And I'm really interested in alternative ways of charging the bike, Solar is my immediate first thought.

Just wondering do any of you guys have panels and/or have tried to wire them up to your battery?

I know that panels come in 12V for a reasonable price, my battery is 36V. 11.6amph, so I'm thinking I could wire them up in series?

I'm not the most clued in person when it comes to batteries, so any help would be appreciated!

Tom

 

[Fordulike]

So I've got a Kudos Stealth coming in a few days, ( which I'll be sure to post a review of, as there's not really any I could find on the web )
And I'm really interested in alternative ways of charging the bike, Solar is my immediate first thought.

Just wondering do any of you guys have panels and/or have tried to wire them up to your battery?

I know that panels come in 12V for a reasonable price, my battery is 36V. 11.6amph, so I'm thinking I could wire them up in series?

I'm not the most clued in person when it comes to batteries, so any help would be appreciated!

Tom

It costs peanuts to charge a battery from the mains. It would take a while to recoup the cost of the solar panels, from a monetary point of view.

 

[Last Heart]

Yeah I get that, it's not really a monetary issue though, I'm just really interested in the tech, and I think a fully sustainable/eco friendly form of transport would be pretty great.

Obviously if I had to spend £600 on the gear to do it, I couldn't justify it, but if I can work a reasonably cheap option out I would like to try it out.

 

[Fordulike]

I've thought about doing this myself, but after weighing up what's needed to achieve the goal, I decided it wasn't worth it.

I'm sure someone has successfully done it though

 

[D8ve]

It's possible but if your spending loads of money as you would have to, to power through the winter. just get normal panels as everyone else has to feed the mains.

 

[Apprentice]

Intresting idea

My commute is 7.5 miles at least 6 of which are up hill so i can nearly freewheel all the way home i wonder how much an old school dynamo would top up the battery on the way home

 

[soundwave]

its not just the panels you need you will also need a solar charge converter as well.

there is a kit here but very expensive but it is portable.
http://www.hi-powercycles.com/portable-solar-chargers/

then look at the charge times and thats for a very sunny day.

tho if you could get a 250w panel cheap enough and a charge controller then it can be done.

each panel will be 15kg plus mind.
http://www.tomtop.com/garden-supplies-1095/p-h16929.html?currency=GBP&aid=gplagb&gclid=CjwKEAiAqozEBRDJrPem0fPKtX0SJAD5sAyHVO6ZmWxmgpGKHkTo-50z3JYEJABzQhZb41iJXOiuXhoC9nvw_wcB

 

[cyclebuddy]

I’ve looked at this before too, but never found a satisfactory way of using a solar panel to charge the bike battery directly. Li-ion needs a CC/CV charge, and a modest solar array can’t deliver the amount of power needed... and the power generated is erratic (due to fluctuating light levels).

IMO, it’s better to use an energy “buffer” to store/deliver the amount of power you need when needed. I use a 50w solar array to charge an old 70Ah car/cranking battery as an energy store (a leisure battery would be better) using a 12v DC regulator to prevent overcharge. Then from the store battery, use a cheap 12v DC to 240v AC inverter to power the regular e-bike charger (and I also have a 120psi air pump for my bike tyres). If you were to do this with all new parts inc 80Ah leisure battery, it’s maybe £275+ worth (ebay). It might be a good solution if you store your bike(s) in a shed/out-building/garage that doesn’t have regular mains power, but a bigger 100/150w panel(s) and leisure battery(ies) would be better/charge quicker for a fixed installation.

In my case, I have an old Transporter “tour van” with this 50w solar array, and a camp bed/stove/heater so I can take my bike away and cycle far-flung old railway routes/canal paths/trails over a couple of days. I have two 10.4Ah batteries for my e-bike, so one can charge whilst I’m riding/using the other. Even so, you only get a charge and a half out of this size of car/leisure battery unless there’s really bright sun and/or enough time (days) to fully recharge it. But it does also provide phone/tablet/torch charging, and avoids wrecking my van battery.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Get solar panels on your roof to supply your electricity, and then plug in to the mains to charge. There's no cheap or easy way to do it.

 

[Fordulike]

Intresting idea

My commute is 7.5 miles at least 6 of which are up hill so i can nearly freewheel all the way home i wonder how much an old school dynamo would top up the battery on the way home

Definitely nope. Firstly, a dynamo won't provide enough voltage and amperage to charge the battery sufficiently.
Secondly, even if you hooked up a system to carry out the task, you would end up using more energy to create enough energy to charge the battery.

I've read so many threads, mainly on Endless Sphere, where people have tried to do this and it just doesn't work. It's basic physics I'm afraid.

Regenerative braking is about as good as it gets.

 

[Wicky]

I got these fitted for gratis and I charge my bike for free

 

[cyclebuddy]

Get solar panels on your roof to supply your electricity, and then plug in to the mains to charge. There's no cheap or easy way to do it.

Yeah... except the subsidies have recently been substantially reduced. When I first enquired it was worth doing cost wise, but by time the planning permission came through, the payback figures just didn't stack up anymore.

 

[Last Heart]

Yeah, reading all your replies it does seem a reasonably big task, when getting solar panels to supply energy to the mains and then charging the battery from the mains is essentially just as good.

I'm still interested in it, but maybe in the future when I could have some sort of outhouse, like your transporter van cycle buddy, sounds great that!

My Kudos stealth should be coming tomorrow, or the next day, so I'll let you guys know what it's like.

 

[Danidl]

Yeah, reading all your replies it does seem a reasonably big task, when getting solar panels to supply energy to the mains and then charging the battery from the mains is essentially just as good.

I'm still interested in it, but maybe in the future when I could have some sort of outhouse, like your transporter van cycle buddy, sounds great that!

My Kudos stealth should be coming tomorrow, or the next day, so I'll let you guys know what it's like.

It only makes financial sense to use solar power in an off grid mode is if there is no AC supply available and or one has a strong green energy commitment, bordering on obsession. While panels are reducing in price, the infrastructure remains expensive. Batteries have a limited lifetime, irrespective of technology and demand maintenance.
The most cost effective method to use solar power is to generate mains quality AC and to use it domestically, and to sell the excess back to the grid. In effect this is using the grid as your store.
Charging a 500watt HR battery at current peak electricity rates say 20 pence per KW HR costs little over 12 pence.( Including inefficiency in conversion).

 

[Danidl]

It only makes financial sense to use solar power in an off grid mode is if there is no AC supply available and or one has a strong green energy commitment, bordering on obsession. While panels are reducing in price, the infrastructure remains expensive. Batteries have a limited lifetime, irrespective of technology and demand maintenance.
The most cost effective method to use solar power is to generate mains quality AC and to use it domestically, and to sell the excess back to the grid. In effect this is using the grid as your store.
Charging a 500watt HR battery at current peak electricity rates say 20 pence per KW HR costs little over 12 pence.( Including inefficiency in conversion).

... And a panel quoting 25w is only capable of generating this subject to a number of conditions.
Full sun at 90degree to plane of the panel.
Full noon type sun peak summer.
Matched load for max power transfer
No part of the panel in shade or shadow.... Much more serious than it may appear.
A typical panel may produce only 10 to 20% of it peak rating