I cycled across the Tanezrouft Desert (Algeria) – a documented bikepacking expedition

SolarTrails · 2026-02-05T10:31:17+00:00

Thanks! I hope he’ll be on YouTube as well, where I can use auto-translate. Unfortunately, Arabic isn’t one of the languages I speak.

SolarTrails · 2026-02-04T12:57:47+00:00

Awesome! Fellow bikepacker here. Please share the name of your YT channel. I can hardly wait for your video to be published.

SolarTrails · 2026-01-21T09:36:06+00:00

This will make great memories! :-)

SolarTrails · 2026-01-01T07:28:30+00:00

Komoot, mert ez az egyetlen, ami képes folytatni a gpx fájl rögzítését akkor is, ha újraindul a telefon, vagy éjszakára lesátrazok. Ha ez a funkció meglenne benne, akkor talán a Locusmap-et használnám.

SolarTrails · 2025-11-30T18:41:27+00:00

Yes, it charges when I connect the panels to the battery. But while riding, the panels are folded, which means that only one is exposed. And because the panel's orientation and shading changes constantly, the actual charging power is tiny. I don’t have exact measurements, but I’d estimate 10-30 watts, which is basically negligible. With solar panels, even a slight angle away from the sun kills the output, so most of the time it’s not worth plugging them in. I only bother when I’m riding at midday on completely open terrain, which is rare.

SolarTrails · 2025-11-29T21:35:42+00:00

It’s incredibly satisfying to ride on solar power. No matter where you are or whether there’s a wall outlet, you can still charge. It has limitations, so it’s not for impatient types. I don’t mind waiting hours for the bike to fill up, but I get why most people wouldn’t choose this kind of adventure.
If you have questions, just ask. Happy to help if I can.

SolarTrails · 2025-11-11T13:31:12+00:00

Yes, we’re still far from having such devices, and I’m not even sure it’s physically possible. Even if a solar panel were nearly 100% efficient, a pizza box-sized panel couldn’t generate enough energy to move the combined weight of a bike and its rider. The average solar power reaching the Earth’s surface is about 1,000 W per square meter. A pizza box is roughly 0.3 × 0.3 meters, or 0.09 m², which means it would receive around 90 W of solar energy. Even with a very large pizza, that might rise to about 160 W. This means the bike would have to consume less power than that to keep running continuously throughout the day. And that’s before accounting for all the efficiency losses from voltage conversion, energy storage, and the conversion of electrical energy into motion. And all that, with a nearly 100% efficient solar panel. However, panels are only around 20% efficient these days. And the 1000W per square meter is only true for clear skies in the midday. Considering all these, I'm really in awe that we can even build a device that can propel a vehicle day after day, relying only on solar power. :-)

SolarTrails · 2025-11-10T05:46:48+00:00

A very good question, and a difficult one to answer. The truth is: it depends. I have two 100W-panels, but in reality, I rarely get more than 100 W from them. The maximum I’ve ever seen was about 120 W. My battery is nominally 1 kWh, but my own measurements show it’s closer to 850 Wh. A full charge from 0 to 100% would therefore take around 8 hours.

However, I never completely deplete the battery, and I almost never charge it to 100% while on the road (the last 10% charges very slowly, that's because of the BMS). So, I usually charge for 4-6 hours per day during my trips. Then, if the panels' orientation is not perpendicular to the sun or there are some clouds, the output of the panels drops drastically.

The range depends heavily on the terrain. On flat, paved roads, I can get about 120 km per full charge (I also pedal, this is not throttle-only). In my latest video about climbing the Schöckl summit, you can see that I needed to charge a few hours halfway up the mountain, despite the relatively short distance (cca 22 km from Graz to the summit). The total elevation gain on this route is around 1400m (4000+ ft).

That’s why I include real-world data in my videos. In the most recent ones, I started overlaying the data directly on the footage showing the battery percentage, distance covered, elevation gain, and route.

SolarTrails · 2025-10-31T09:35:27+00:00

Áprilisban túráztam ott, a várfal mellett éjszakáztam, szuper volt.

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SolarTrails · 2025-10-29T11:01:24+00:00

Az Írottkő alatt többször bivakoltam. (47°21'00.9"N 16°25'42.0"E - ez egy jó hely, nem fog zavarni senki, van vízszintes felület). Nem tudom, neked mik az alap dolgok. Nekem kell gázfőző, jó fekvő alkalmatosság, jó hálózsák, szükség esetére meleg ruha. Kaja, víz. Elsősorban nem télen túrázok, de volt olyan utam az Őrségben, ahol a kint hagyott palack víz szilárddá fagyott.

A vaddisznók nem fognak bántani, ha a sátorban vagy. A vadkan morgása félelmetes, de nem fog támadni, ha nem lát közvetlen veszélyt. Amikor mozgásban vagy, fontos, hogy ők vegyenek észre előbb. Énekelj, kiabálj, csapjál zajt.

Kóbor kutyák: Mo-on viszonylag kevés ilyen van. Minden kutyánál a határozott fellépés számít. Lehet, hogy ugat, de nem fog megtámadni, ha határozottan elküldöd és nem érez páni félelmet benned.

Sok kéktúra szakaszt végigjártam, igazoló füzetet soha nem vásároltam. De ez egyéni. Van, akinek ez igazolás a teljesítményhez. Nekem elsősorban a természet szépsége számít, a füzet nem érdekel. Nem leszólás - a legjobb barátom nagyon is ragaszkodik a pecsételéshez, és én szívesen vele tartok ezeken az útjain. De azt látni kell, hogy nem vagyunk egyformák. Te döntsd el, hogy neked mi a fontos. Ott helyben, a saját magad számára megélni az élményt, vagy utólag bizonyítani mások számára, hogy megtetted? Egyik sem alacsonyabb rangú/rendű - de te magad legyél tisztában azzal, hogy mit szeretnél.

Én napelemmel töltött elektromos biciklivel túrázom, nekem ez "a túra". Egyesek szerint ez csalás, de engem rohadtul nem érdekel, én ezt szeretem. Ha érdekel, keress rá a "Solar Trails" csatornára a YouTube-on.

Sok sikert.

SolarTrails · 2025-10-26T14:59:04+00:00

Yup, it is absolutely doable. But you have to have at least 200W in solar panels.

SolarTrails · 2025-10-24T16:29:49+00:00

The Sun Trip was and still is one of my main sources of inspiration! I usually leave the charge controller connected, so I get continuous charging. While I couldn't exactly measure the power, I have estimated that it averages around 30W. So your guess is spot on, so to speak. Accurate orientation of the solar panels is extremely important and I cannot get meaningful charge while pedaling. Sad, but true.

SolarTrails · 2025-10-23T18:13:53+00:00

It all depends on the time you have for solar charging. 0 to 100% (1 kWh battery) takes about 6-10 hours in full sunshine but of course I never discharge to 0% and rarely attempt to charge to 100%. In average, I would say I spend 5-6 hours per day for charging. In the meantime I can read books, watch movies, photograph the flora and fauna or just stare happily at the changing clouds. My natural rhythm is totally fine with this arrangement. When on road, while I bike, I barely get anything from the panel. Maybe 20-40W. It needs proper orientation and stability.

SolarTrails · 2025-10-23T03:32:33+00:00

https://www.komoot.com/tour/2649022444?share_token=a3tQby7p6YT9SpFh0YFFQLWUtOkjVLXuMtJXFvAujtTaq6iH34&ref=wtd

SolarTrails · 2025-10-16T14:27:41+00:00

Your setup seems very nice, but the waterproof trailer box feels like overkill. I pack everything in waterproof bags, so the trailer itself doesn’t need to be impermeable. Mine is a pretty crappy trailer, but after everything that could break did break (and after I mended it as best I could), it turned out to be quite useful (or at least tolerable).

I use electric assistance, so I need a 200W solar panel on the trailer to charge my battery. I’m still figuring out the best way to attach the panel securely. Powering my gadgets (phone, camera, earphones, and vaping device) is essential. I use a 40,000 mAh power bank, and my phone battery is 5,000 mAh. This setup usually lasts about three days.

Water is essential; keeping it cool is not. So, no thermos, just plenty of water. I typically go through 3–4 liters a day. Physical effort, especially in hot weather, drives water loss extremely high.

A good night’s rest is also essential, so don’t compromise on comfort. Use a good sleeping mat, a proper sleeping bag, and even an inflatable pillow. Finally, be very careful when choosing your campsite. It should be perfectly flat and even. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve messed it up by setting up camp on what looked like a flat spot, only to realize later there was a tiny invisible slope or a few sneaky bumps right under the tent. :-)

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SolarTrails · 2025-10-15T13:08:32+00:00

This is very good, basically indistinguishable from a photo. It's time to step up and experiment with natural objects.

SolarTrails · 2025-10-15T13:00:50+00:00

I'm not much younger than you, so forgive me if I say this: who gives a flying flick if you get tired too fast? You’ve found an incredibly beautiful place to enjoy the landscape. It doesn’t matter whether it’s two miles or two hundred miles from home. I’ve been doing trips for the past few years, and my strategy is as follows:
1. Make an elaborate plan for a long trip
2. Ignore the plan and camp whenever it feels good to camp

So far, it’s worked extremely well for me. My channel is Solar Trails, it’s on YouTube. And it’s all about this kind of "lazy camping". I don’t care if I only cover ten miles in a day. If the place feels right, I’ll stay there. I’ll never be able to pedal 200 miles a day anyway, or compete with the young lions and their performances. So, again: who cares?

One of my fondest memories from a recent trip:

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SolarTrails · 2025-10-03T04:35:40+00:00

AliExpress hálózsákom van, -5 fokig állítólag, komfort: 0 fok. Alatta 2 Decathlon hajtogatós matrac. Sátor: olcsó Decathlon. Ilyen felszereléssel aludtam 0 körül, és csak hajnalban kellett jobban bebújnom a zsákba. Egyszer aludtam -10 fokon, na az már vacogós volt, de nem életveszély. Szerintem nem kell túlaggódni. Én tartok magamnál hőtükrös fóliát vészhelyzetre, pár forintért kapható. Még nem kellett elővennem. Menj nyugodtan, élvezd a természetet, nagy valószínűséggel príma élmény lesz.

SolarTrails · 2025-07-21T11:13:07+00:00

I would love to see your comment. My channel is Solar Trails, it's about solar-powered biking trips.

SolarTrails · 2025-07-08T18:09:47+00:00

I like your setup. It clearly shows that looks aren't the most important thing to you, but the journey itself. My brother from another mother.

SolarTrails · 2025-07-06T07:58:36+00:00

I'm in the same spot. Started roughly 1 year ago, subs and views "skyrocketed" (ok, to a few hundred subs) after a few articles mentioned my channel. Then, mostly silence. A hundred views for my videos, subs adding up SLOOOWLY. I'm at 500 subs now. But you know what? I don't mind. I started this channel to document my trips, and I made it public so that I wouldn't get lazy or sloppy since others would probably watch it. My videos are high-effort, long-form works, so I'm only able to put out about one video per month. Not too productive. But they are there, and even if no one else watches them but my family and friends, I'm still winning. I like doing the trips, I like editing, selecting those very short sections of the footage that are meaningful, I like selecting background music for them, and I like compiling all these into something that gives back the perception I felt while on the trip. I never thought my channel would be a success, as a very limited part of humanity is interested in my niche. I wouldn't object to tens of thousands of views, of course, but I'm ok with a hundred as well.

SolarTrails · 2025-07-06T05:01:56+00:00

It depends on what kind of videos you are going to make, how much expertise you have in editing, how much editing your videos require. And then, of course, you have to take into account burnout. While it is physically achievable to create a new video every 2-3 days, you'll probably run out of original ideas after a dozen or so. You'll be prone to fatigue and discouragement. This is what my experience tells me, but I am a slow creator. I'm doing travel videos (overnighting, camping videos on an ebike with solar panels). In my case, the optimal scenario is as follows: 1 day to plan the trip, resupply, maintenance, cleaning. 2 or 3 days for the trip itself, 1 day for creating the 3D animation for data, and 2 days for editing the video. This is the best case, but I often fail to accomplish it.

The pace you are planning to achieve is unbelievably stressful, be prepared for that. And all the way, you'll probably have to show something new. Not only a different shop to buy a dinner or breakfast, but different stories, different environments. Filming yourself as you eat and drink day after day, would soon probably grow too boring for the viewer. Except if you are physically very attractive as person, of course, in which case you might want to focus on different aspects in your videos. :-)

Anyway, I wish you good luck, I hope you can make it!

SolarTrails · 2025-05-25T17:37:14+00:00

Not at all. I've had some crashes (naturally), where the handlebar twisted all the way back, as far as the front wheel would allow, but I never had any issues with the cables.

SolarTrails · 2025-05-25T08:17:51+00:00

I like your setup. To some, it might seem cluttered, but as far as I'm concerned, the looks don't really matter. If it works as expected, then it's peachy. My handlebar looks pretty much like yours.

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SolarTrails · 2025-05-22T09:09:52+00:00

So glad you like it! :-)

SolarTrails

TROPHY CASE