Solar Trunk Bag !!! Keep your batteries charged in style

[morph999]

wow. Check this out.
http://www.earthtechproducts.com/p2538.html

I guess it charges your batteries while you are riding?

 

[Gregory]

Awesome, except it's only 1.5 W, which will take a lifetime to recharge your bike batteries - may be OK for an ipod if that's your thing.

Having said that I like the trailers with a decent sized PV panel on them. Like this http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5756, which I'd be keen to try one day for touring.

 

[dogman dan]

It charges your cellphone while you are riding. A trailer about 4 feet by 5 feet could charge your bike while riding, and would only cost about $1500. And you get to carry the weight of it, about 50 pounds. The setup I'm refering to would be three 60 watt panels, that could put out about 3-5 amps of 36v. On the fly, it might extend your range as much as 3-5 miles depending on the angle of the sun to the panels. Or you could just carry another ping for $800 and extend range by 25 miles. It's not that it doesn't work, it just works better to carry more batteries.

 

[morph999]

what if we somehow mounted a large panel to the frame in the back and then one on the handlebars in front. Maybe one day, we can make it so that the amount of energy coming in is the same as the amount being expended.

 

[Link]

what if we somehow mounted a large panel to the frame in the back and then one on the handlebars in front. Maybe one day, we can make it so that the amount of energy coming in is the same as the amount being expended.

Sun only throws out about 1kW/m². :?

 

[snowcrow]

The solar trunk bag is ok for charging small gadgets but not much else :| For the same money or less you could buy a 30 watt panel on ebay, shipping included

I like the trailer idea myself 8),but as dogman pointed out, the biggest issues are cost and producing enough power to make it worth while

I'm working on a long, light solar trailer design now, that tilts up and will double as a bike shelter and tent.

It will be kind of like a popup camper for bikes I'll be posting some CAD concept pictures soon!

Blessings, Snow Crow

 

[snowcrow]

what if we somehow mounted a large panel to the frame in the back and then one on the handlebars in front. Maybe one day, we can make it so that the amount of energy coming in is the same as the amount being expended.

Sun only throws out about 1kW/m². :?

But, you can only collect 110-170W/m² with current solar cells :?

Blessings, Snow Crow

 

[dogman dan]

It's a workable idea, especially with a good cheap source for the panels, like a scavenge deal. It just isn't so practical as a range extender. As a way to carry a way to charge in the wild, it beats listening to a generator all day.

 

[Toshi]

what if we somehow mounted a large panel to the frame in the back and then one on the handlebars in front. Maybe one day, we can make it so that the amount of energy coming in is the same as the amount being expended.

in order to make this feasible one needs a huge solar array, a super aerodynamic shape (hint: an upright bicyclist is NOT this shape), and bucketfuls of cash.

 

[Link]

what if we somehow mounted a large panel to the frame in the back and then one on the handlebars in front. Maybe one day, we can make it so that the amount of energy coming in is the same as the amount being expended.

Sun only throws out about 1kW/m². :?

But, you can only collect 110-170W/m² with current solar cells :?

Blessings, Snow Crow

I hear some are around that can absorb UV light, too, maxxing at like 53% efficiency. I think. Don't remember if you can buy them, though, and if you can you can bet they're going to cost much more than regular cells.

 

[snowcrow]

I hear some are around that can absorb UV light, too, maxxing at like 53% efficiency. I think. Don't remember if you can buy them, though, and if you can you can bet they're going to cost much more than regular cells.

Yea, I think I know the ones you're talking about. I think its NanoSolar that makes them, but they are still vaporware, (not on the market yet) It is a semiconductor liquid, printed on stainless steel

Blessings, Snow Crow

 

[Link]

I hear some are around that can absorb UV light, too, maxxing at like 53% efficiency. I think. Don't remember if you can buy them, though, and if you can you can bet they're going to cost much more than regular cells.

Yea, I think I know the ones you're talking about. I think its NanoSolar that makes them, but they are still vaporware, (not on the market yet) It is a semiconductor liquid, printed on stainless steel

Blessings, Snow Crow

No, I think it was a triple-layer thing. Something about each one being almost invisible to a certain range of wavelengths, so electrons would be excited by photons repeatedly through the cell. No idea if anything ever came of it.

I'd take the paint-on cells for sheer versatility, though.

 

[youngworld]

Now we're talkin'!

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/09/ride_like_the_s.php

 

[Shotster]

It's a workable idea, especially with a good cheap source for the panels, like a scavenge deal. It just isn't so practical as a range extender. As a way to carry a way to charge in the wild, it beats listening to a generator all day.

I just joined the forums and was going to post a question along those lines...

I'm considering purchasing a BionX pedal assist motor for my recumbent trike. I live in the sun-drenched southwest part of the U.S. and would be taking extended trips (days or weeks) on my trike. I will be camping and away from any power for extended periods of time. So my question is, am I dreaming to think I can charge the BionX battery while out in the boonies by connecting a portable solar charger of some sort? Is this possible? Impractical? I did run across a couple related threads on this site, but they quickly became too technical for me at this point. :?

Anyway, is something like this even a possibility with current technology?

Thanks much,

-Steve

 

[Joey]

Although the solar trunk bag doesn't have enough surface area of solar cells to do much good, the bag itself does have the benefit of being large enough to hold eight Milwaukee V28 Li-Mn packs (e.g. 2s4p for 56V @ 10.4Ah capacity), provided that you slice the mating connectors so they are flush with the Milwaukee packs.

See the thread
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5596
scroll down to Sun Jul 27, 2008 11:22 AM entry

-- Joey

 

[morph999]

It's a workable idea, especially with a good cheap source for the panels, like a scavenge deal. It just isn't so practical as a range extender. As a way to carry a way to charge in the wild, it beats listening to a generator all day.

I just joined the forums and was going to post a question along those lines...

I'm considering purchasing a BionX pedal assist motor for my recumbent trike. I live in the sun-drenched southwest part of the U.S. and would be taking extended trips (days or weeks) on my trike. I will be camping and away from any power for extended periods of time. So my question is, am I dreaming to think I can charge the BionX battery while out in the boonies by connecting a portable solar charger of some sort? Is this possible? Impractical? I did run across a couple related threads on this site, but they quickly became too technical for me at this point. :?

Anyway, is something like this even a possibility with current technology?

Thanks much,

-Steve

yeah, it's possibly but you are going to need a big enough solar panel and you might need to tow one behind your trike. There is a guy on youtube who pulls a solar panel behind him and he said it takes about 5 -7 hrs or something like that to charge the batteries. You could maybe pull two solar panels or maybe somehow construct the solar panels above your trike as a kind of roof.