Solar Charging a BionX?

[Shotster]

Check out the finished trailer here. It's quite nice. Not being an electrical techie though, what I'm wondering is if a 72 watt solar panel like that could charge a BionX system. I was told by a dealer that you have to use the BionX charger, which implies that an inverter would be required.

So I guess my question is twofold: 1) Is it possible to charge a BionX system without using the manufacturer's charger? and 2) Would a solar setup like that depicted at the link above be able to charge a BionX battery in sunny conditions over the course of a day?

Thanks for any help,

-Steve

 

[dogman dan]

Holy Smokes! Most likely the easiest thing is an inverter and the bionx charger, but clearlly you are not that into easy. Nice work dude!

 

[dak664]

Well, there is not much special about the HighPower charger I have for the 350, it just connects to +/- on the XLR and puts out up to 42 volts and 2 amps, cutting off at high voltage or low current or perhaps both. My wife on a light day6 bike uses around 200 watt-hours on a 10 mile ride, so a 75 watt panel could theoretically handle a daily recharge even accounting for the loss of a sunny hour away riding. You would need (a) a boost converter to raise the ~18 volts of a single panel http://dakx.com/BC100/42voltboost.jpg , or (b) a buck converter on two panels in series http://dakx.com/BC100/tiny85buckchargers , or (c) an inverter to run the existing charger (it draws up to 100 watts so might take 3 panels). My guess at losses would be 10%, 25%, 50%. While under warranty I would recommend you only ever use (c)

 

[Shotster]

Holy Smokes! Most likely the easiest thing is an inverter and the bionx charger, but clearlly you are not that into easy. Nice work dude!

Whoa! Let me clarify! I didn't build that! I wish!!! I found it while doing a search and was wondering if something like that could be used to charge a BionX while out in the sun-drenched boonies.

-Steve

 

[dogman dan]

Oh well. In any case solar charging can work. I calculate the practical size for my needs a bit bigger, about 160 watts since I have a large capacity lifepo4. But it would work best if you drove it to the boonies, and did rides from home base. Carrying around that much panel is a bit heavy and awkward. For an infrequenly ridden bike, the whole equation changes, and a lot less panel can charge a bike in several days. I'd think the ideal set up would also incude two batteries, so you can ride discharging one, while the other charges, whether parked, or riding along with it. One thing about solar pv, you don't get 60 watts for all 12 hours of a day out of a 60 watt panel. In reality, it may be more like 40 watts for 6 hours for a total of 240 watt hours, instead of 720 watt hours. And assuming a 12v panel, multipy the panel size by 3 for the watt hours needed for 36v. So four 40 watt panels and an inverter is what I was looking at when I investigated the idea. Since solar panels are so expensive, if you drove to the camp site, another way to skin the cat could be some deep cycle sla's to run a charger.

 

[snowcrow]

I have just the charge controller for yea, as long as you are charging 12v,24, or 48v (sorry no 36v)


http://stores.mavericksolar.com/-strse-56/Xantrex-C40-PWM-Solar/Detail.bok

Blessings, Snow Crow