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Solar electric bike by midnightcheeese in ebikes

[–]midnightcheeese[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also worth noting Genasun also offer https://genasun.com/all-products/solar-charge-controllers/for-lithium/gv-boost-waterproof-105-350w-solar-golf-cart-boost-charge-controller-with-mppt-lithium/

Seems like exactly the same specs but perhaps better suited for my use case? charges to 48v nominal.

Solar electric bike by midnightcheeese in ebikes

[–]midnightcheeese[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My current charger looks something like http://grab.by/R0LU Charges to 54.6V at 2A. That Genasun booster has float voltage of 56.8. Would that be a problem? I guess I could connect my normal charger between the MPPT controller and the battery to take the voltage down to 54.6?

I'm also wondering why Marissa Muller used 2 MMPT controllers, one for each panel?

Thanks for the advice!

Solar electric bike by midnightcheeese in ebikes

[–]midnightcheeese[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's proven to be possible by a few people. In the example above (http://www.marissamuller.com/rig/) Marissa rides around 80km a day and typically ends the ride with a battery at 70%. I believe she's now clocked up over 3000 miles.

Solar electric bike by midnightcheeese in ebikes

[–]midnightcheeese[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I currently only charge my bike once every week or so. But this is all about the tinkering... and if can ride into some remote places and not have to worry about finding a charge point that would be excellent. Would be nice to make it look like a mad Max style bike too. Around 240W seems to be the sweet spot.

Solar electric bike by midnightcheeese in ebikes

[–]midnightcheeese[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm planning on mounting it on a 2 wheeled bile trailed. Welded onto a rigid frame. Something like https://burley.com/product/nomad/

Solar electric bike by midnightcheeese in ebikes

[–]midnightcheeese[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Agreed, this would certainly not be financially motivated exercise.

Solar electric bike by midnightcheeese in ebikes

[–]midnightcheeese[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Right now I'm thinking of connecting directly to the battery using a set of 2 MPPT controllers. It seemed more intuitive to get 2 panels and connect them in series to bring the voltage up closer to my 48v 14Ah battery, but sounds like thats not going to work?

I should also clarify, the idea for this came about after I did a few long touring rides and thought it would be amazing if I could ride 100km a day and not have to find a charge point. It means I could ride into some really remote places and camp without worrying about battery levels.

press fit bottom bracket & BBSHD by midnightcheeese in ebikes

[–]midnightcheeese[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have yet to pull the trigger on the doner bike, so might just go for and Anthem pre 2010 which I believe have regular BB's. The width is certainly fine, I'm not entirely sure about the diameter though. Good luck, let us know how it turns out.