the e wind
10 W
Hi all, I have an open question regarding the Cycle Analyst, and specifically, how it is used to measure solar power input to your bike.
I propose that it would be very useful to purchase a Cycle Analyst that utilizes two shunts; one for solar input, and one for motor output. This way, your bike would be able to accurately display input & output power with one gauge instead of using a second meter. Some people use the $15 solar meter from Amazon, and some people use a second Cycle Analyst to measure solar power. The only issue with using a CA to measure solar is that the solar power reads negative, and also, you shouldn't have to mount two CA's on your handlebars when one would do the job. I think the CA has enough juice to handle the task if wired & programmed properly.
And theoretically, once we're measuring both parameters on the same device, you could set the bike's power output to match the expected solar input of the day; i.e. instead of selecting a pedal assist mode, or using the throttle, you could set the pedal assist level based on how much power you are making. This would take all the brain-work out of riding a solar bike. Now granted, knowing how much power to use on your solar bike is not that hard; it generally just involves paying attention to a couple meters, and crunching a numbers over coffee/lunch breaks to make sure you'll have enough range for the day. After doing that a few times, you generally know how much power you can get away with using, but wouldn't it be slick if your bike ALWAYS knew what the particular day's range limits are/will be?
A little birdie told me that Grin will be sponsoring the Sun Trip 2018's technical logging requirements. I wonder if they're going to issue a specially programmed Cycle Analyst for data collection of the competitors? And if so, I wonder if they'll optimize the Cycle Analyst for solar in this way?
Tell me what you think, nerds!
I propose that it would be very useful to purchase a Cycle Analyst that utilizes two shunts; one for solar input, and one for motor output. This way, your bike would be able to accurately display input & output power with one gauge instead of using a second meter. Some people use the $15 solar meter from Amazon, and some people use a second Cycle Analyst to measure solar power. The only issue with using a CA to measure solar is that the solar power reads negative, and also, you shouldn't have to mount two CA's on your handlebars when one would do the job. I think the CA has enough juice to handle the task if wired & programmed properly.
And theoretically, once we're measuring both parameters on the same device, you could set the bike's power output to match the expected solar input of the day; i.e. instead of selecting a pedal assist mode, or using the throttle, you could set the pedal assist level based on how much power you are making. This would take all the brain-work out of riding a solar bike. Now granted, knowing how much power to use on your solar bike is not that hard; it generally just involves paying attention to a couple meters, and crunching a numbers over coffee/lunch breaks to make sure you'll have enough range for the day. After doing that a few times, you generally know how much power you can get away with using, but wouldn't it be slick if your bike ALWAYS knew what the particular day's range limits are/will be?
A little birdie told me that Grin will be sponsoring the Sun Trip 2018's technical logging requirements. I wonder if they're going to issue a specially programmed Cycle Analyst for data collection of the competitors? And if so, I wonder if they'll optimize the Cycle Analyst for solar in this way?
Tell me what you think, nerds!