Anyone want to discuss solar/ebike applications?

[HappyRider]

I operate entirely on solar power. I charge my ebikes from my solar power system. Ive also made a sepparate solar charging station for my ebikes. Am considering attaching a smaller solar panel directly to my larger ebike along with a boost charge controller to maintain a couple amp input whenever riding in the daytime. Would love to hear if other folk have done the latter and how they arranged it. In my case it would be overkill since I have never come close to running out of juice in my larger ebike(60ah battery). BUT theres more than one reason for doing things. Sometimes its just fun.

 

[Nvreloader]

HR
I am interested in you ebike solar charger setup, portable or stand alone?

I have lots of areas to ride that are past my limits for power available,
70+ miles one way.
My Wart Hog MD 750 has a battery size/type of 17200 cells = 48v-15ah-720wh,
x 2 battery's and I average between 80-120 mile per charge, for normal riding,
charged to 92% - 53.4v/13.3v and use down to 42.0v/1.9v, before recharging
back up to 53.4v.

I have been thinking of a portable solar pack for field recharging............

Tia,
Don

 

[HappyRider]

HR
I am interested in you ebike solar charger setup, portable or stand alone?

I have lots of areas to ride that are past my limits for power available,
70+ miles one way.
My Wart Hog MD 750 has a battery size/type of 17200 cells = 48v-15ah-720wh,
x 2 battery's and I average between 80-120 mile per charge, for normal riding,
charged to 92% - 53.4v/13.3v and use down to 42.0v/1.9v, before recharging
back up to 53.4v.

I have been thinking of a portable solar pack for field recharging............

Tia,
Don

Hi Tia. My stand alone solar charging station isnt very complicated. I simply connect two 24v, 60watt solar panels together in series to form a 48v, 120watt array. Then connect that array to a cheap, mppt solar charge controller and the controller to my bikes 48v battery pack to charge it. If you want faster charging then use larger capacity panels(such as two 24v 100watt panels in series, and so on).
I havent built a portable charging station yet but doing so shouldnt be very difficult or complicated. For portable, on the bike charging, Id use a single, 24v 60watt solar panel in conjuction with a solar "boost" charge controller. A "boost" charge controller takes the lower voltage output of, say a 24v panel and "boosts" it to the volts required to charge a 48v(or more) battery. You wont get as many amps from the boosted output, but some amps is better than no amps when charging while youre actually riding around. Another idea for a portable charging station might be to use two 24v, 60watt panels, connect them in series like I do with my stand alone station but hinge the two panels like a book. This would make the set up easier to carry in a basket or something. Once you arrived at your destination, you could pull out and open up the panels to put some charge in your batteries while your bike is parked and youre doing something else.

 

[HappyRider]

HR
I am interested in you ebike solar charger setup, portable or stand alone?

I have lots of areas to ride that are past my limits for power available,
70+ miles one way.
My Wart Hog MD 750 has a battery size/type of 17200 cells = 48v-15ah-720wh,
x 2 battery's and I average between 80-120 mile per charge, for normal riding,
charged to 92% - 53.4v/13.3v and use down to 42.0v/1.9v, before recharging
back up to 53.4v.

I have been thinking of a portable solar pack for field recharging............

Tia,
Don

Hi Tia. My stand alone solar charging station isnt very complicated. I simply connect two 24v, 60watt solar panels together in series to form a 48v, 120watt array. Then connect that array to a cheap, mppt solar charge controller and the controller to my bikes 48v battery pack to charge it. If you want faster charging then use larger capacity panels(such as two 24v 100watt panels in series, and so on).
I havent built a portable charging station yet but doing so shouldnt be very difficult or complicated. For portable, on the bike charging, Id use a single, 24v 60watt solar panel in conjuction with a solar "boost" charge controller. A "boost" charge controller takes the lower voltage output of, say a 24v panel and "boosts" it to the volts required to charge a 48v(or more) battery. You wont get as many amps from the boosted output, but some amps is better than no amps when charging while youre actually riding around. Another idea for a portable charging station might be to use two 24v, 60watt panels, connect them in series like I do with my stand alone station but hinge the two panels like a book. This would make the set up easier to carry in a basket or something. Once you arrived at your destination, you could pull out and open up the panels to put some charge in your batteries while your bike

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doing something else.

HR
I am interested in you ebike solar charger setup, portable or stand alone?

I have lots of areas to ride that are past my limits for power available,
70+ miles one way.
My Wart Hog MD 750 has a battery size/type of 17200 cells = 48v-15ah-720wh,
x 2 battery's and I average between 80-120 mile per charge, for normal riding,
charged to 92% - 53.4v/13.3v and use down to 42.0v/1.9v, before recharging
back up to 53.4v.

I have been thinking of a portable solar pack for field recharging............

Tia,
Don

Here is a photo of the stand alone solar charger that I made. Its really very simple and inexpensive. I bought the mppt boost charge controller from AliExpress for $25 and two 12v 100w solar panels for $44 each on ebay. Thats really all there is to it. Ive got the charger controller hooked up and configured to charge a 36v battery pack in the photos but it can be easily configured to charge a 48v battery pack with a press of a button. The panels are connected in series to produce at the 24v level(which is more like 40v). The skies here are quite overcast today but Im still getting between 1 amp and 3 amp charging. 3 amp when the sun pops out a little. The boost charge controller is rated to produce a max of 10amps and will probly get close to that on really sunny days but most ebike battery packs require less than half that. Also, keep in mind that the charger in the photos is my "proof of concept" model. Ill be making it much neater and more compact after the two 24v 60watt panels I ordered arrive.But for now, the charger works wonderfully. Better than I had expected, in fact.

 

[HappyRider]

HR
I am interested in you ebike solar charger setup, portable or stand alone?

I have lots of areas to ride that are past my limits for power available,
70+ miles one way.
My Wart Hog MD 750 has a battery size/type of 17200 cells = 48v-15ah-720wh,
x 2 battery's and I average between 80-120 mile per charge, for normal riding,
charged to 92% - 53.4v/13.3v and use down to 42.0v/1.9v, before recharging
back up to 53.4v.

I have been thinking of a portable solar pack for field recharging............

Tia,
Don

Sorry Don!! I mistook your Tia(thanks in advance) for your 1st name lol! I hope you didnt take offense!

 

[usclassic]

I have a couple 12v 100 watt solar panels in parallel to 20amp charge controller charging two 100 aHr 12 volt batteries also in parallel hooked up to two inverters providing AC so I can just plug in the eBike charger to one of the inverters. Use the setup for blackout backup power to the house too. Not portable but the solar panels are mounted on a dolly so I can wheel them around if needed with 40 feet of cable.

 

[HappyRider]

HR
I am interested in you ebike solar charger setup, portable or stand alone?

Back again. I want to clean up some of the descriptons of my solar charging station/station ideas. Right now Ive made just the one charging station in the photos and it consists of a 24v 200watt solar panel array and a boost charge controller. Thats it! The boost charge controller "boosts" the output of the 24v panel array up to the 42v needed to charge the 36v battery pack Ive got connected to the controller in the photos. The controller can be easily adjusted to charge a 48v ebike battery pack from a 24v solar panel array as well. Total cost about $115($44x2 for the panels and $25 for the boost charge controller). Making the set up "pretty" will probably add a few more bucks to the project.

To make the charger that i just described portable, you could replace the two big 12v, 100watt solar panels with just one 24v, 60watt panel which I think is 20"x25". OR with one 24v, 30watt panel which is significantly smaller than the 60watt! You might even find a way to mount one of the smaller panels to your ebike so you can be charging as you ride! Of course, the smaller the panel, the slower your battery charges but even the 24v, 30watt panel would make a noticeable bump in your range on sunny days.

The last option Ill mention would be a portable solar charger that you can carry with you in a basket or strapped to your luggage rack but one youd have to stop and set up to use. Such a charger would use two 24v, 60watt solar panels OR two 24v, 30watt panels. Take the two 60watt panels, for example. If youre going to carry one 60watt panel, you may as well carry two by hinging them together so they can be opened and closed. In a closed state, two wouldnt take up any more room than one. And since you want to charge a 48v battery, and your carrying two 24v panels, you may as well connect the panels in series to make a 48v panel array and then use a "regular" solar charge controller instead of a boost CC since youd be charging a 48v battery pack with a 48v solar array. Other than that, such a solar charger would work the same way as the others Ive described but surely charge your batteries much more quickly. Im currently awaiting delivery of two 24v, 60watt panels that I ordered a couple of days ago. Im going to use them, in conjection with a renogee boost charge controller to make the last type of charger that I described: One that is portable but needs to be opened up and set out once I reach a destination. Id love to mount a solar panel permanently to my bike for constant charging but dont have any room left to do so anywhere!

Anyway, I hope you or somebody finds this stuff interesting. I surely do so if anyone out there has ideas to add or suggestions to make, Id love to hear them.

 

[HappyRider]

I have a couple 12v 100 watt solar panels in parallel to 20amp charge controller charging two 100 aHr 12 volt batteries also in parallel hooked up to two inverters providing AC so I can just plug in the eBike charger to one of the inverters. Use the setup for blackout backup power to the house too. Not portable but the solar panels are mounted on a dolly so I can wheel them around if needed with 40 feet of cable.

Hey! Thanks for joining in. Yeah! Basically youve fabricated a solar generator. The benefit of which is that its there for your power needs in an emergency. I run my entire household on solar so Im sitting on a pretty huge solar generator myself lol! Im really interested in portable charging since I already solar charge everything at home! What Ive outlined above isnt any kind of "breakthrough" since folk have been doing exactly what Ive described for years to keep batteries in boats and golf carts and so on charged. What I like about it though is that you dont need a battery to charge a battery. Just a solar panel and a very small charge controller.

 

[HappyRider]

I have a couple 12v 100 watt solar panels in parallel to 20amp charge controller charging two 100 aHr 12 volt batteries also in parallel hooked up to two inverters providing AC so I can just plug in the eBike charger to one of the inverters. Use the setup for blackout backup power to the house too. Not portable but the solar panels are mounted on a dolly so I can wheel them around if needed with 40 feet of cable.

Hey! Thanks for joining in. Yeah! Basically youve fabricated a solar generator. The benefit of which is that its there for your power needs in an emergency. I run my entire household on solar so Im sitting on a pretty huge solar generator myself lol! Im really interested in portable charging since I already solar charge everything at home! What Ive outlined above isnt any kind of "breakthrough" since folk have been doing exactly what Ive described for years to keep batteries in boats and golf carts and so on charged. What I like about it though is that you dont need a battery to charge a battery. Just a solar panel and a very small charge cont

I have a couple 12v 100 watt solar panels in parallel to 20amp charge controller charging two 100 aHr 12 volt batteries also in parallel hooked up to two inverters providing AC so I can just plug in the eBike charger to one of the inverters. Use the setup for blackout backup power to the house too. Not portable but the solar panels are mounted on a dolly so I can wheel them around if needed with 40 feet of cable.

By the way, a couple solar panels and a couple of batteries was how I started out playing with solar about 8 yrs ago. I treated it like an interesting hobby at 1st. Now its practically taken over my life lol! Its fun as hell to play with and modify and grow.

 

[usclassic]

Why not use your ebike charger with a small ac inverter directly to solar cell for portable charging?

Something like this

Then a couple 12v solar panels in parallel.

Or better yet

 

[usclassic]

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/solar-powered-bicycle-brief-review-avinash-kumar-jha

 

[usclassic]

 

[usclassic]

 

[usclassic]

https://electrek.co/2022/08/25/solar-e-bike-panels-charge-sun/

 

[usclassic]

 

[usclassic]

 

[usclassic]

 

[HappyRider]

I have a couple 12v 100 watt solar panels in parallel to 20amp charge controller charging two 100 aHr 12 volt batteries also in parallel hooked up to two inverters providing AC so I can just plug in the eBike charger to one of the inverters. Use the setup for blackout backup power to the house too. Not portable but the solar panels are mounted on a dolly so I can wheel them around if needed with 40 feet of cable.

Hey! Thanks for joining in. Yeah! Basically youve fabricated a solar generator. The benefit of which is that its there for your power needs in an emergency. I run my entire household on solar so Im sitting on a pretty huge solar generator myself lol! Im really interested in portable charging since I already solar charge everything at home! What Ive outlined above isnt any kind of "breakthrough" since folk have been doing exactly what Ive described for years to keep batteries in boats and golf carts and so on charged. What I like about it though is that you dont need a battery to charge a battery. Just a solar panel and a very small charge cont

I have a couple 12v 100 watt solar panels in parallel to 20amp charge controller charging two 100 aHr 12 volt batteries also in parallel hooked up to two inverters providing AC so I can just plug in the eBike charger to one of the inverters. Use the setup for blackout backup power to the house too. Not portable but the solar panels are mounted on a dolly so I can wheel them around if needed with 40 feet of cable.

By the way, a couple solar panels and a couple of batteries was how I started out playing with solar about 8 yrs ago. I treated it like an interesting hobby at 1st. Now its practically taken over my life lol! Its fun as hell to play with.

Why not use your ebike charger with a small ac inverter directly to solar cell for portable charging?

Something like this

View attachment 164175Then a couple 12v solar panels in parallel.

Or better yet
View attachment 164176

UNfortunately, you cant run an inverter directly from solar panels. Inverters need to be connected to a battery-which cant be charged directly from a solar panel either. A solar charge controller is required to safely regulate the juice from a solar panel and use that to charge a battery that can be used to operate an inverter. charging an ebike like this is charging a battery with a battery. Way too many steps when all you need is a small, 10amp solar charge controller(either a "boost" or "regular" depending upon your panel voltage and ebike battery voltage) and a solar panel or two. Just as Ive already described.

 

[HappyRider]

https://electrek.co/2022/08/25/solar-e-bike-panels-charge-sun/

View attachment 164178


View attachment 164179

Now in this post, youve presented a "boost charge controller" which is pretty much exactly what Ive already described. You can connect a couple hundred watts of solar panels to one of these "boost" charge controllers, connect its output wires to your Ebike battery and set its voltage to whatever is appropriate for charging your ebike battery. Like I said, this is exactly what Ive already described-and built to charge the batteries of my own two ebikes. It works VERY well.

I didnt watch the videos you posted but would wager that in every example, the folk in the video did exactly as i already described; They use a solar panel/panels in conjuction with one variety or another charge controller to charge their batteries. It requires just two components, no extra batteries and no inverter which makes such a charging system simple, uncomplicated, and potentially very portable.

 

[HappyRider]

https://electrek.co/2022/08/25/solar-e-bike-panels-charge-sun/

Why not use your ebike charger with a small ac inverter directly to solar cell for portable charging?


Or better yet
View attachment 164176

Now in this post, youve presented a "boost charge controller" which is pretty much exactly what Ive already described. You can connect a couple hundred watts of solar panels to one of these "boost" charge controllers, connect its output wires to your Ebike battery and set its voltage to whatever is appropriate for charging your ebike battery. Like I said, this is exactly what Ive already described-and built to c

Why not use your ebike charger with a small ac inverter directly to solar cell for portable charging?

Something like this



Or better yet
View attachment 164176

As for using a battery pack, youre back to charging a battery with a battery and I want to avoid that. Why not create a charging station that charges your ebike battery DIRECTLY instead of from another battery that also must be charged? Neither would I want to carry around a big, general duty battery power station like that. Id be much better off just buying a spare battery specifically made for my bike(probly be cheaper too!). The best, lightest, cheapest, simplest, most potentially portable option that I know of is what folk have been doing for years to keep their golf carts and boat batteries charged. Use a small charge controller with a solar panel or two and thats it! Easy Peasy. The only hard part is figuring out how to mount such a set up to your bike and still make it look good!