Solar Ebike Touring, Experiences of the 2018 Suntrip Race, with Q&A Session from BC Bike Show
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- Опубліковано 27 кві 2020
- This is a live presentation filmed at the 2020 BC Bike Show when Justin Lemire-Elmore discussed their firsthand experiences both building and riding a solar powered ebike as part of the 2018 suntrip race. www.thesuntrip.com/sun-trip-2...
In the middle of the presentation section we also screened the "3 wheels Under the Sun" video which is cut from this upload but available here:
• 3 Wheels Under the Sun... - Розваги
Thanks Justin great presentation! Definitely a must for all those who are thinking to go on a long trip with electric bikes....powered by the sun !🌞🌞🌞
Absolutely fantastic!!!!! Big fan of the Suntrip race. Good presentation. Thanks
Great presentation. I just bought sunpower solar panels today for another project, but great to know your setup is attainable now with today's efficiencies. Last big bike ride I did was Peddle Across Lower Michigan (PALM) 2 decades ago, and supporting Michigan Coast to Coast gravel grinder race this year. Thanks for inspiration to bike camp!
Hi Justin just found this, great information. Solid state batteries are on the horizon!
Bravo, great information
Think you for uploading your videos tutorials on how to repair a hub motor the stator or the lubricant for the hub gearless hub motor I'm really thinking about buying that for my Stromer ST1 I love my ST1 but maybe in the next project is to take my old trek and make it electrify again thank you I learned quite a bit and hopefully I can help other people out with disabilities. I am fortunate that my cerebral palsy is very mild but if I can help someone by ebikes or even about cerebral palsy I said this before it makes me smile try to help people out cuz we all need help sometimes don't we again thank you sir and your great company and you group of employees they're awesome and tell Mr Miguel thanks for sending them links I'm going to look at them probably tomorrow after I wash my bike.
In the 1980's the Tour de Sol was carried out in Switzerland. They stopped and presented their self made vehicles in Bern, where I studied biology then. They used huge solar panels attached to self converted bikes or cars using engines from washing machines and the likes. I was very impressed then. Unfortunately Switzerland has not subsidized solar energy seriously, and meanwhile we are a developping country solar and also wind energy wise. Recently I have acquired an HP Velotechnik Speedmachine and convert it to electric and then to solar to revive the positive spirit from then in my home country.
Excellent talk. I have watched the Sun Trip 2018 documentary and it was inspiring. But, just to be sure, the trip is not *entirely* powered by sunlight power because the rider is allowed to pedal. So a top conditioned cycling athlete definitely has an advantage. So the trip is a combination of sun power and hamburger power. :-)
Well said. And those hamburgers cost way more $$ / watt-hour than the sunlight, and cause a lot more environmental damage per watt-hour to boot!
If you want to be really pedantic though, all the food and fossil fuels is just the storage of prior sunlight in chemical form as a result of photosynthesis. You'd have to eat critters from deepwater hydrothermal vents to get energy in your system that wasn't solar
@@GrinTechnologies over the years we all hear about the satiator charger generally people don't like it who are dealers because of course the wholesale cost is higher considering the value of the package. I have visited your website for the first day today that I can recall at least and I'm impressed by your investor program for example especially with low interest rates. Viewers can make $8,000 a year. That is in credit with your online store. I I think one of the errors that you making this video is to ignore the fact that the panel is not designed for a bicycle. Bicycle solar energy harvesting component would be integrated with the Wynn's and the individual cells would be both s a i l s Four Winds and the capturing light on both sides most likely. For example right now 500 watts is the standard for stationary panel. For Mobile use so you're going to have something like 6 watts per disc and although you are you at the hamburger what are much more expensive that notion comes from stationary panels, so paying as much for solar what were much more than the fanciest restaurant dinner cost is nothing compared to what grab shaving historically has cost on road long-distance touring.
But it comes to fuel oh, and your earlier notion has validity the error that you made and no longer rejecting the use of solar to capture electrons is in ignoring the other types of fuel that lightweight wheeled Vehicles can use. Especially in climates that you need Cooling, using liquefied natural nitrogen that's the power source, is something that you have not studied. Most urban areas have it being delivered at a cost of gallons per US dollar. Each gallon is 700 cubic feet evaporated. While expanding 700 * the energy that can be recovered is very significant and only about 15% unbelievably is lost. That's the round trip Los.
The renewable energy Market has never been objective or impartial. On the bicycle however one can't avoid candor.
Many industries use liquefied gases. Many use the gases that are available on site, and so the industry has minimal competition between providers some providers will produce the liquid on site for you.
Currently, fracking has resulted in tremendous amounts of energy being wasted liquifying and evaporating methane.
We have to save the planet. That means, we must Embrace technology. You mentioned geothermal energy as a core energy. The gravity of the Sun, causes our core to generate significant Heat oh, some of that he is coming from Fusion within the core of the Earth, but much of it is due to the magnetism and the influence of the Sun. It does not matter where the energy comes from though. Most likely a variety of energy sources could be used to produce the work necessary to make fuel. American boats produce their own jet fuel but when it comes to making a portable energy storage liquid hydropower wind and yes uranium all compete to get it done anywhere on the world.
I have saved the best fact for last and that is the Newtonian observation that objects in motion remain in motion. As the mass of an object increases this a law becomes more of an issue. So if you have a tank several miles long filled with liquefied nitrogen oh, you can move it very quickly across the ocean, on what I call an improvised Air Road. That is sufficient pressure between the surface of the ocean and the belly of your craft. The frictional losses are very minimal given the tonnage of your cargo. It is very easy to maintain speed by yanking on cables. Each end of the cable has to be on the surface of the ocean for you to grab on it of course. In-between the ends the cable is below the surface of the ocean because for those who have not noticed this the ocean is not flat either. As long as you have something to exchange for the liquefied natural nitrogen that is what gets yanked on. So you have this car go using the cellular model traveling as fast as you want across the surface of the ocean oh, this can be above the speed of sound of course. However subsonic speeds are significantly faster than current shipping standards. Going a few hundred miles per hour is more than revolutionary. Those of us who witness the solar eclipse know how fast the shadow travels. Using solar energy to maintain the speed of a craft is not recommended nor is it necessary to keep up with the Sun. you can after all begin your journey in the morning and as long as you arrive by Sunrise you're not going to have to deal with Darkness.
I call this technology yank. It competes with propellers being thousands of times more efficient. I call it twice as efficient as Wheels because unlike Wheels all of the energy goes to move the cargo whereas with wheels you can tell me what the percentage is that gets the move the Earth as opposed to the mass and the vehicle.
The truth is often upsetting and causes violent reactions of denial oh, this is especially true when it comes to scientific fact. Ian Stein faced it. I face it on a daily basis. I am running for the United States Senate oh, and I am going to be bringing fat offering myself in service for a. Of years, take it or leave it. Should I or frankly when I am elected, watch out.
Oh -- and I'd definitely be down for an American trip. Let's do it!
Same here. It doesn't necessarily need to be the full 12,000 km either. For comparison, I measured the diagonal straight line across the longest part of America which is the distance from Blaine, WA to Miami, FL as about 4400 km. Google Maps routing shows 5472 km via the major highways:
goo.gl/maps/bdajW1eeBPK66oeu7
One of the biggest journeys would be an "all corners" round trip through America. Blaine, WA -> Los Angeles, CA -> Miami, FL -> St. Agatha, ME -> Blaine, WA which would be about 14,500km:
goo.gl/maps/1E9aKVK8KYBmVM8n7
But I think most people would be impressed with just the first trip! Also more riders would finish which makes it funner maybe Perhaps to compensate, the race format can be changed to be *pure solar power* with no pedals whatsoever. In fact, remove the pedals and chain to save weight. That will also remove the factor of an athletic rider getting a major advantage. The main advantage then becomes getting the smallest and lightest rider.
@@beyondfossil We had SunTrip kinda race here www.suntouramerica.org don't know what ever happen to it. Would love to do over here have go though parts of Alaska, Canada and USA be pretty cool. Or down though south america would be epic.
I learned a lot from your video! Thank you! How heavy was your bike with all stuff together?
My bike touring gear includes a Rav power 24w solar charger with USB connection is there a way to charge the battery with it ?
46:53 vancouver to florida is waaaay too long and expensive, make it along the west coast and do seperate one along east coast you'll get way more participation
Very cool. Absolutely a dream of mine. If you were to do it again, what is the biggest change you'd make?
I'd do it for fun and not for a race. There were so many thing's we'd want to stop and enjoy more but couldn't because of this constant pressure to do 150-200km a day. Once we finally realized (just 2 days before the end) there was no way we'd be able to logistically make our flight out of Tehran and called to cancel those tickets, then it was a huge weight off the shoulder. Our final week in Iran was super memorable and relaxing as a result. We wished more of the trip was like that.
Shoot for 100-120km days. It's way more sane.
Justin, that was very interesting! I am wondering if you choose or maybe built your MPPT with a specific idea to have it to react quickly enough to adjust the V/I ratio fast enough to accomodate for the shadow that you meet during riding the bike? ( in movement) Because regular MPPT are made for static solar install and the V/I ratio dont need to readjust quickly, But for your application the speed at which it readjust was more important i guess?
I don't have the skills to build my own MPPT solar charge controller so I use the GenaSun boost controllers which are designed for mobile applications. The specs say the MPPT Tracking Speed is 15Hz.
This is a great question and really one of the differentiators between a good quality MPPT and a poorly designed one! We tested the recovery rates of the Genasun and chinese MPPT we used on this trip and they were both really good, but I've heard stories of some MPPT's that take many seconds to find their sweet spot again. The other thing that can really help is having multiple small panels in parallel, but that means running at a lower voltage which is less efficient/ideal for the MPPT boost converter as it means higher amps on the input. .
The most fun is just to zig zag all over the road avoiding shadows like a kid jumping over cracks in the sidewalk!
Hi, I analize all of your posts and SunTrip endevour - wonder how is it possible to charge a battery using the controller from solar panel and in the same time using this energy from the battery during cycling? Do you use a batery charging port connected with pannel and another output from BMS to discharge ?
It is no problem to discharge the battery from the controller at the same time you are charging it with the MPPT. The only times you will have problems with this is on very proprietary and locked down battery systems like Bosch which will not be happy powering the motor if they see current coming in from the charging port. Any conversion kit ebike or more generic ebike system will have no problem.
Interesting and Informative! Thank you.
You showed how heat build up lessens your solar panel efficiency, so this begs the question: What was the material and design of your solar panel substrate? Was it constructed to transfer heat away from the solar cells to keep them always cool from below? For example foam being thermally insulating would be bad. I imagine an equivalently light weight custom designed aluminum sub structure could keep your solar panels cooler and more efficient both when moving and especially when stopped.
Our panels were glued to a styrofoam core and so had the worst possible thermal path from below, but then the best mechanical rigidity for not flexing and developing microcracks in the cells. If you glued the solar panels to a sheet metal substrate that would be ideal, and at least one person in this race had panels made like that.
The data on panel efficiency vs temperature is quite well documented so it's easy to calculate the potential gains if you know the actual temperature differences you might achieve.
Thank you Justin, great presentation and alot of valuable information in particular about expectable numbers of energy generation.
Based on these and your experience could you also give a number for the best ratio between panel wattage and ideal size of battery based on a "normal' bike setup (~8wh/km) and not so competitive environment?
I assume it will not make alot of sense to have much more capacity than the average energy generation of 4x panel rating.
Thank you!
Hi Hendrik, the answer to that depends a bit if you expect to be charging up at night as well or getting energy exclusively from solar. But in either case you really can't have "too much" battery capacity in a sense, since it will always serve to level out variations in solar output, and batteries last longer the lower the 'C' rate of charging / discharging which always benefits larger packs.
If I was to do the suntrip ride again without the rule constraints and with the same vehicle, I'd probably go for about 3-4kWh of capacity. That would allow for a couple bad weather days in a row without too much of a hit on the range, and to 'bank' a larger stash of energy when the sun is good.
@@GrinTechnologies thank you for the reply Justin!
Yes, ideally solar energy should suffice to not be searching for plug every time but indeed, many variables are unknown and since this will always be true for the most important one (weather) it may be good to be on the safe side and carry 2-3 days worth of energy.
Yo dud!
You already replayed with a helpful response, so in hopes for additional info since you did your homework and i dont have any experience.
So to connect this to a bike you only need an MPPT+solar panel? Like if you got a 48v battery you need a 48v+ MPPT and a solar panel and you connect it to the battery-controler terminals?
That's correct. If you already have an ebike with a battery pack, then all you need for converting that into a solar ebike is a solar panel and MPPT charge controller, and the wiring to connect the output of the MPPT to your battery bus.
I am currently looking for a 48v 14A battery for my solar project at around $500. Most places I have checked don't recommend using for charging and discharging at the same time and/or no more than 5A current. Here is the list I checked so far as Luna cycle,Em3EV, and most from Amazon sellers except BtrPower but they sell 52V. Thanks!!
Sometimes you have to take risk in your own hands. It's true that many BMS circuits don't have overcharge cutoff protection on the discharge port and visa versa. But if you can't put in enough current through the charging port, then it's your only option, and the risks are low with a good MPPT.
Hi Justin, congrats on this presentation, really good stuff. Could you develop a bit more the idea around the number of 4wh/w. I understand how you got to this number but some people didn't really understand how you use that number to size your panel. On minute 22:30 you mentioned that you just need to divide that number by 4 and voila.. what number needs to be divided by that factor of 4? Keep up the amazing work!
Hi Luis and sorry to hear that this detail wasn't very well explained. The number you divide by for is your TOTAL required daily watt hours. If you estimate you need 1200 watt-hours / day for the setup for your daily range requirement, then a solar panel of 300 watts (1200/4) would be about right.
On full sun days you'll get more, on cloudy days you'll get less, but the average will work out pretty close to this.
Hi Justin, thanks for your reply. In fact, after watching the video a couple of times I noticed that you do say the words "how many watt-hours you need". I'm the one to be sorry ^^
The data you collected is very valuable (of course, within that geography and time of the year). It's amazing how the mean values don't differ that much (considering the different systems and panel efficiencies). Also amazing of you (and probably thanks to the Grin Tech Team) managed to assemble a set of sun data loggers to have them ready for the trip. Thanks again for sharing this amazing info with the public. Amazing stuff!
I was not at this Q&A session but my question would be: "Up to a certain point, would a higher than normal KV brushless motor be the most efficient for ultra long distance?" I'm thinking a higher KV brushless motor may be more like "overdrive" for ICE engines. The downside would be less low-end torque for acceleration and hill climbing but more efficient in the long straightaways. Also could get higher top speed on straightaways.
Another question, would a non-pure sine wave ESC be more efficient for the ultra long trips? Pure sine wave controllers are good and all for constantly changing throttle. But a cheaper "jagged" wave form ESC may actually be more efficient for long duration max throttle because the MOSFETs are doing less switching?
The KV of a motor in and of itself is a non-factor. Simply choose your motor KV and battery voltage so that the motor is able to spin at the highest max speed that you want in your travels. Fast and slow motor winds produce identical torque levels at the same efficiency as long as you scale your controller max phase amperage in proportion.
The question about mosfets switching losses vs better controller efficiency is a really good one, and my own dyno test results have resoundingly convinced me that the gain in motor efficiency from a field oriented controller more than outweigh additional switching losses. I used to be more of a skeptic on this front.
How connect the battery
hi, thanks for the amazing presentation! we are currently planning a summer solar trip between Santiago, Chile to Mendoza, Argentina with 2,800 net altitude difference. We plan to have 2000 Wh battery with a 250W solar panel, my question is that our battery supplier recommends 2A charging and in you presentation you had peaks of 9A; is it of any danger to charge at such high current or does the current go straight to consumption (load)? thanks for the answer, best regards, José Ignacio
Your battery supplier doesn't have a clue what he or she is talking about. A 2000 Wh ebike battery made of almost any lithium cell on the market could be charged at well over 20+ amps without any issue if you had a solar array large enough to supply that.
@@GrinTechnologies Thanks! I´m thinking maybe it is restricted by the type of connector? We use jack connector. We are going with a 2 X 1000Wh (13s7p) battery. We will continue to plane our solar trip, we would love to have a suntrip edition in the Southern Hemisphere, best from Chile, José Ignacio =)
I just made a trailer for my escooter that is about to have 2x 220v outlets thanks to how cheap you can get solar pannels, controllers, and DC to AC converts from china (eliexpress). Is it safe to have your charger plugged in and charging while driving with the stock 48v charger? I made this trailer for charging and camping. I know some ebikes don't let you use the throttle when charging but mine lets me. I also want to add that both my scooter and trailler have full suspension, I had two Daymak monsters and turned one frame into a trailer lol
There is no problem whatsoever to be charging the batteries while riding.
I'm planning the Rails-to-Trails (seattle to W DC) as soon as it opens.. I've been working on my Solar Trailer for a couple years. The key has been using authentic SunPower® solar panels and Genasun GVB-8 MPPT boost charge controller. I tried using some cheap panels and it was so inefficient that i couldn't get any charge. A 170w 5.83 amp panel makes a big influence on a 900wh battery. Essentially, it pays off by supplying the power needed to pull the trailer. So all i have to do is effortlessly pedal my etrike.
@Alex Hofvander Hi Alex.. I 've been watching your channel for a longtime. I like your HP Scorpion FS and your solar setup. Keep making great content.
Rob those 170watt SunPower branded panels look good. I think that what Justin used on his 2018 trip and what I am planning to get very soon.
@@danieldalessio4317 Daniel. I went thru SunPowerYachts.com to get my panel. Lyall was the first dealer on the American continent that sold these amazing solar panels. I see now that Lyall is selling these on ebay.ebay.com/itm/SunPower-170-Watt-Flexible-Solar-Panel-High-Efficiency-for-Marine-RV-Camping/183918537192? 170w panel is now only $399... msrp $550. They are assembled in France.
These are the exact high quality panel that Grin sells. Make sure you get a SunPower® with Maxeon cells they have a 25% efficiency rating. (most other lesser panels are 15%-18% (that is like a Richter scale in terms of efficiency) That means smaller panel more power. These projects don't work if you substitute cheap panels. or cheap boost charge controllers. Grin has some very high quality items. I got he CycleSatiator wall charger for home use. They are amazing. check them out.
@@rdkuless Yeah there is a bunch of places that seem to carry them amazon got them for $340 now might get. Alex Hofvander has some pretty neat panels from sunbeam a Swedish company. He's getting over 25.1% efficient from them via a very interesting patent coating they got. Also using SunPower cells. However I notice lot of the aftermarket flex panels with SunPower cells only get around 23% efficiency from the specs. And from what I research coatings degrade quickly on them get foggy. They are cheaper option though. And much better then the 15-18% panels.
Yeah Grin's solar charge controller looks awesome like how can mix and match it with just about anything. But think I am going to go with a Genasun seems like that what everybody uses on sun trips year after year they are unbeatable.
Was going get a CycleSatiator in 2017 they are amazing wonderful design. Works with so many battery types and set cut off volatages to what ever you like. And got be the most efficient charger on market, totally fan less is awesome. But I opted not get one. I have a fairly large 14s 10p lion pack I built 1.8kWh pack for my current ebike. I wanted more then 300watts charging while balancing. I made my pack with ability to split in half. So I could use a 24v server PSU and RC lipo chargers. I pump 700+ watts into my pack for rapid charging. Then use RC cell monitors/buzzers when riding. Its nice setup and cheaper but noisy, inefficient and lot cabling. Can't wait to get some solar panels
So those solar panels from Amazon for $350 are not the right one to purchase? I am trying to put two on my trike but not sure how much I can expect. This would be my first ebike project for my 2013 Catrike Road.
Does anyone know where I can find the Sun Trip 2018 data he showed in this presentation?
Unfortunately the folder structure it was in didn't survive our upgrade to a new website and server solution last year, but it's on our to do list to make that available again as well as the trip simulator links that are on Endless-Sphere forum.
about those nominal 250W in Europe... it's not so much about lawmakers meaning well but about bicycle cops in big cities beginning to crack down on altered systems in excess of the allowed wattage, speed or for not having the mandatory pedal sensor to activate above 6kmh.
There are good solutions for cargo bikes and rickshaws by purchasing your setup through a local company (like ebike-solutions in Germany) that put a sticker on the motor saying that its "250W", in reality all these systems provide peak power well above 500W and more importantly the right amount of torque.
I'm using a geared "PUMA" (I think its a MAC really) 275rpm-wound front hub motor with a 36V/20A controller on a 16' wheel and guess who wins the drag race (despite a system weight of sometimes 600 to 700kg) at green light come Oktoberfest...
Oh another Question Justin, You said that the max power you have seen from your solar panel even in the best conditions was 80% of the max rated power that they are designed for. The spec shet say 25% efficiency so this would mean that in reality these are like 20% efficiency i guess. Maybe they are a little bit overspec or have been rated for light conditions impossible to meet during a 12 000km trip!
The nominal panel rating is based on Standard Test Conditions (STC) defined as 1000 watts/m^2 irradiance (solar noon) and 25°C cell temperature. This is optimal for flash testing on a factory assembly line but does not represent real world conditions where the cells are going to be 25-30°C above ambient air temps. This is why you typically get about 80% of nominal.
SolarEbike answered correctly here. Some of the suntrip people had gone on solar bike trips up in the alps they often reported getting consistently higher wattage than the nominal rating even without the reflecting clouds situation. If you have cold temperatures and a clear sky it's quite ideal and possible in real world to do more than rated.
Most often when we were riding it was sunny but a bit hazy in the sky and that really had an effect on the maximums.
Hang on. That dude shown at 26:40, with the auto-tilting panel. Where can I learn more about this fellow and how he's doing?
Right here! ua-cam.com/video/a-4JPYHcfxQ/v-deo.html
Absolutely amazing presentation Justin. Very informative and detailed. There is not much technical details on UA-cam or net in general about the SunTrip. So this video is very helpful for people that want to do SunTrip race. I actually applied very late for 2018 SunTrip but the organizers didn't didn't think was enough time for visa's. Plus my bike wasn't the greatest setup, I built before I found out before SunTrip. Then because financial reason's in 2019 could't do 2020 race. But since postpone to 2021 I re applied. Already working on whole new bike design. What are your thoughts on mid drives? I am planing on using a Bafang BBSHD with your Phaserunner & cycle analyst v3. I am currently using a cyclone motor with Kelly controller so I am use to mid drives. But now thinking getting your new v2 direct drive hub motor. On a long steep hill can a hub motor get same Wh per km compared to a mid drive? Supposing there no human power.
Hey Daniel and great to hear of your pending presentations! Mid-drives have potential advantages with heavy solar bike rigs where you can encounter all kinds of terrain, but historically they have had higher failure rates than hub motors in all the suntrips so far. In our year there was one guy (Jack Butler) who completed the entire trip with a BBSHD with no issues while another rider had BBS02 drive fail fairly early on, and one of the other commercial mid-drive bikes failed too.
It depends a bit what you are familiar and comfortable with, but if you do go the hub motor route you want to make sure it does have enough torque to handle the weight and grades of your vehicle.
The mid-drive in an easy gear will definitely use less Wh/km climbing a steep hill, but the hub motor can make up for this with regen on the downhill stretch. So it ends up a bit of a wash for your net wh/km at the end of the day.
@@GrinTechnologies Yes I am very exited just hope I can complete the bike and get in some heavy testing, do some local touring before the race. SunTrip organizers haven't gotten back to me yet so don't know if 100% going be accepted or not. Yes mid drivers are not very reliable, soon after I got my cyclone a snap ring popped off a gear. I remember watching Jack Butler videos before 2018 race. I thought no way he going make it on BBSHD, I was amazing that he had no problems. He even went on further another 3,000km with very little issues ua-cam.com/video/4_VRs3IzpEk/v-deo.html I am really curious what he going to use on his new recumbent for 2021 SunTrip if he will use anther BBSHD or not.
Think key for any mid drive is simple design the big name commercial ones are so complex design. And got bring spare parts for mid drives like Jack did. Bernard Cauquil 2015 winner looks like had mid drive on his bike. Yet the 2018 winner Raf Van Hulle won with a crystalyte hub motor. Does seem like its bit of wash in end both got advantages and disadvantages. Just watched your 2 hour video on hub motors incredible amount of info you are the king when it comes to hub motors that for sure.
Really is hard choice thinking sticking with a mid drive. Like you said its what most familiar and comfortable with, I know its limits and capabilities well. I actually got a sponsorship with cyc motor few mins ago. Said they would provide me parts free of charge :-) They have a very well built Astro like motor in their CYC X1 Pro v2 kit I been really interested in. Very high rpm / efficient motor. ua-cam.com/video/UxieiFgDbmA/v-deo.html They are such a new company though seems risky.
I could do North America. And let’s do it because I just started building the solar Trike
are there any suntrip bike races in USA?
They are trying to organize the 1st one next year! www.thesuntrip.com/en/2022-sun-trip-america-test-edition/
I realie this is an old video but here is a comment anyway: Any time you weld aluminum you need to heat treat the material to eases some of the tension in the area. The cracks might have been avoided
Yup that would certainly have helped if it was an option. That said several other solar bikes during the race had aluminum panel supports with no welding (just screws and rivets) which also fatigue cracked and broke during the trip.
We've since repaired and reinforced the cracked area with some thick gusset plates and look forward to resurrecting this trike on some future trips here in North America, where the roads are smoother and less jarring to whole roof structure.
Nice
Please just come to France and let me ask a thousand questions and work for you !
I bought my battery charger from them for my day6 e-bike back in 2017, it's called the satiator. It will charge many different types of batteries at many different charge settings and percentages, very well. Great company!!! Great city to visit or live in!!!
Have you ever been tempted to take this to 11, eliminate the pedal-power stuff, and just head off on solar power alone?
Nope! It's kinda boring to sit on a bike and not be able to pedal, the legs get restless.
Otherwise though it's totally possible if you want, and the solar provided much more energy than our legs on average. Just be mindful that your daily travel distance much more at the mercy of weather if you don't have pedaling as a backup, and in heavy overcast conditions you don't get much range. So you'd have more day to day variability in distance covered.
@@GrinTechnologies Thank you for this. I also imagine that if someone isn't pedaling at all, he can feel cold really quick out there.
38:50 cost of bike is $10,000, wow!
I use a misting system on my panel. Works great.
Oh neat to hear. How much water per hour do you go through with that?
@@GrinTechnologies I use a MistyMate with a self contained/pressurized canister. It delivers a small blast of cool mist. And i notice a difference in range. I only use it in the heat of the day.
I really want to talk with a tech about adding a CA to my solar system. I have a BBS02 750w 48v mid-drive. I set up the trailer with a SunPower® 170w 29v 5.83a panel, a Genasun GVB-8 54.6, And i paired up that with my 52v 17.5ah hailong batteries. I want a display that will be compatible (with/without a shunt) (readable under direct sunlight) (so i can monitor the Solar impact on recharging my 52v batteries). i know my system is working because of the fast green flickering light. But i can't really monitor the voltage or watts consumed while riding. My Bafand C750 display has all the information to optimize the gear ratio/power level/watts consumed by motor to get the bigest range. The biggest problem with the color displays by bafang is that they cannot be seen in the sunlight. What are they thinking. A display that can't be seen in the sun. LOL isn't that when we ride..? LOL
Could join the contest build bicycle solar
I do remember my english speach teacher never to say UMM while giving a speach! Very distracting from the presentation! You will recieve what you are presented in my experience
NA suntrip!!!!
31:15 $3500 to get the trike shipped back to USA? Probabaly cost a few thousand to get it shipped there as well. that's a lot of money to spend (waste?) on a bike race. the idea to stretch it all the way to china was dumb in my opinion. keep it local and reasonable and more will participate.
ridiculous and the bike was $10,000. probably burned more jet fuel and caused more net polution then their cool solar bike saved. This is not environmentalism, it's just a hippy joy ride.
In our case more than anything it was about product and technology development, but the hippy joy ride and honeymoon trip just before our wedding was a nice plus :-)
i have a 84kw (peak) 2wd bicycle i am building, i have sent you an email to your sales email for purchasing advice... i wish to add solar also :)
Boost converter 900 Watt plus all project solar to get 500 watts to my solar Yorkdale elementary school I saw solar car
Amount of pollution caused by jet fuel used to transport you half way around the world vs amount of pollution prevented by using an ebike? sorry I doubt this was a net positive!
For sure no one would dispute that. You need to ride an ebike instead of driving for about a year to offset one long haul flight. Since I don't drive a car, that means I'm entitled to one flight to europe each year to match a typical emissions of average joe with a car ;-)
But for touring trips that depart and return home, it's hard to beat the net emissions of a solar ebike with casual riding effort. It's definitely better than a regular bike with double the food consumption.
A professor at the UofArizona used a combination of lithium and Sulfur to make batteries.. They were getting 5 x the range of the standard 18650 lithium batteries. And then, all the news about this breakthrough completely went silent.. (Too Efficient..?) Sulfur, as you know is a waste product of manufacturing. And it is expensive to dispose of it. This professor found a way to use this waste product and make a battery that provides 5 times the range for electric vehicles.
What a surprise another tech advance to help free up slaves gets burried and it's inventor silenced.
28 solar solder wires long right booster converter step up ebike 100km bike I want to build fancy buying 20 solar big panels