Easy DIY solar charging electric bike guide

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Outro Music: BenSounds

[devsmailbox]

It also works for electric motorcycles. We fitted 300W panels like you might fit a surfboard and flip them up when parked. It makes 30-40km of range daily for free 😀👍

[vincebaynard]

TOTALLY APPRECIATE getting through details quickly & to the point. Many Tubers try too hard with trying to be relatable. I find this video refreshing due to a perfect combination of clear details+quickly moving onto the next description with A+ pronunciation. I found those details relatable enough. I look forward to the next solar vehicle project.

[MerwinARTist]

In general I think this is a great idea! However, I think it would be better to have panels that could fold and fit into a pannier saddle on the bike .. then when you have reached a destination (as in camping) .. you could unfold your panels and have a larger array .. with more charging amps. This was a good demonstration tho.

[abe]

It's so nice that Keanu Reeves himself joined the e-bike community!
Lol
That was a very cool video!

[LetArtsLive]

I really like these videos cuz you're one of the more knowledgeable people on e-bikes that I've seen. And really care about what you do

[servicedogranger]

Just found your channel been riding a e-bike for 3 months and really like it I lost 60 lb so far and I pulled my service dog in a pet carrier and I'm got a flexible solar panel for the pet carrier so I can charge the battery thank you this is cool

[IAMSatisfied]

Thanks, Micah! The story you did for Electrek in Sept of 2018 on the solar powered ebike trailer that went from France to China was awesome... an average of 124 miles a day from the panels (300w-max) and his legs. If one were to seriously want to power an ebike with panels, it seems either mounting the panels to a trailer or an overhead canopy would make the most sense... the trailer adds rolling resistance and the canopy places weight & center of gravity and a potential sail up higher. I'd go for the trailer, unless the canopy was on a trike or a quad.

[stevej.]

I guess there are TWO concepts to work on. 1). Is to charge and ride for long distance; & 2). Daily use where you use and charge in between trips.

I think the later is more to suit the masses where someone commutes to work and back or rides a bike to the shops, see friends or run errands. So with option 2, you could use one of those foldable blanket panels that unfolds and lays over the length of the bike when not in use. The blanket could be stored in a rack on the back and then opens up to lay over the bike & clipped into place.

So just like a RV camper van has batteries to get through the night, the bikes batteries get you through the next ride but charges every other moment in the sun.

I know some of the ranges these ebikes can do are amazing, so the odd 15 minute ride here and there should EASILY be recovered with the majority of your day not riding the bike.

Example, you ride 5km to your friends house to have lunch, coffee and a good old chit chat. 2hrs later you get back on your bike with an near (if not fully) recovered battery.

[jeancharlesmcote]

Look like a fun project. As you said, probably not practical, however it does bring up the possibility of having solar powered charging stations for e-bikes.

[mikejones-vdfg]

Very cool, ive been on a solar kick lately after getting an 80w panel thats been running my laptop for over a week now and a bunch of powre banks without having to plugin. Amazing the free clean(relatively) energy thats out there. And yeah its heavy, i wouldnt want to have to carry around anymore weight and thats only 80w. So for a mobile solution id definatley be getting the lighter flexiable ones, dont even care about the flex, you can carry twice as much pannel if not more for the same weight. Which i still think you need to do to power a vehicle succesfully, a lot of panel, more then the area of your vehicle allows, so stop and unfold and charge method seems to be the way to do that. Theres a channel here that did that with a van, totally electric, but slow and long to charge and had tonnes of pannel, But the weight was just massive so no wonder, you gotta be weight conciouse when using solar for mobile i think.
Anyway yeah i remmeber that truck, and the Mr. Lee that sold it, would be so cool if you could amphibinize the vehicle too, and solar power sail it to china, while mr lee awaits on the shores waving you in, and you guys hug and embrace and talk about the beautiful vehicle. Theres a channel that put solar panels on a catamorang boat in british columbia, pretty cool, but only moves around the bay i think and, i think it just too heavy again. Youd have to design with weight in mind from start when making a solar vehicle, or you'll always be getting unesecessary dead weight here and there.

[LaineyBug]

With those baskets on the front and back, you could make a sort of convertible rain fly type roof and put more panels on the roof, and have extra batteries charging to swap out...

[bryduhbikeguy]

If you use 2 'flexible' panels, that are mounted on aluminum, you can set them forward slightly over the windshield to shade it, and still the sunroof too, from the sun's heat, and have less drain by the air-conditioner.

[brockedwards]

That was a success, looking forward to seeing you install this on your truck.

[daniele_go]

Hi Micah, thanks for sharing your quick implementation of a solar bike! One key point is to avoid shadows on your solar panels: in your case the handlebar is right above the front one, while your seat is hanging over the rear one. Unfortunately we couldn't see how you connected your solar panels to your battery. This could be quite tricky.
With just 100 watts nominal power, assuming your battery is 500wh, you will be lucky to be able to recharge it completely in 10 hours (assuming 50w of solar panel output on average...)
For your project on the electric van you will have to significantly increase your solar panel power if you want to actually improve its range 😉

[johnknight]

This is great: this dude keeps having the same ideas I do, so he can do all my experiments for me, so I don't have to pay any money! ;-)

[jaredb]

Love this! Just got a letric xp 2.0..it rips. Cant wait to see the solar truck💚

[patedwards]

I always get asked about my Surron when I park it in town. I give them the usual stats like range and speed but the best part is when I mention it is charged by the solar panels on my van!

[LHROSS]

Nicely done! The big game changer is going to be when you can attach the flexible solar hood over your helmet and body that protects you from rain and still charges and is sturdy enough to attach to front rack and rear that is wind resistant and still keeps its shape wrapping around your back and body game changer!

[norwegiangadgetman]

I'm planning to build a microcamper to use together with my PEDELEC electric bike. With your video I feel confident that I can fit a solar charger for the bike's 36V system in the camper. I should be able to fit at least a 100W, maybe more, panel on top of the camper, and two battery banks inside(if the system in my bike doesn't work while charging.) so that I have one connected to the bike and one being charged when travelling. Just need to learn to weld to build the frame of the camper, source a lot of materials... Fun!

[rexphix]

Great work. I'll wait for the truck work too