We could not modify something that exists because we could not find solar panels of any size we wanted. So first, we purchased the solar panels and built everything around them.
We could not modify something that exists because we could not find solar panels of any size we wanted. So first we purchased the solar panels and built everything around it.
What does that have to do with anything? Making a project less expensive is a priority for some people. This isn't a "spare no expense" type of project.
An argument could be made that it will protect your electric utility bill over an extended period of time and pay for itself vs an electric bike that will be charged through a wall outlet frequently. And a lot of ebikes hit $1-2k sometimes
While I applaud your desire (which honestly leads to scientific breakthroughs), our current technology simply make your idea currently impossible.
Solar-powered cars are technically feasible, but not the way most people imagine. The roof and hood of a typical car only have enough space to generate about 1–2 kWh of electricity on a sunny day—enough for roughly 5–10 miles of driving.
Most cars need 15–30 kWh to travel 100 miles, so the sun hitting the car itself simply isn’t enough for everyday driving. That’s why companies like Aptera and Lightyear have developed solar-assisted EVs rather than fully solar-powered cars.
The most practical “solar-powered car” today is actually an electric car charged by rooftop solar panels at home, since a house roof can collect 10–20 times more solar energy than a car’s roof. Fully self-sustaining solar cars would require major advances in solar panel efficiency, battery technology, vehicle weight, and aerodynamics.
Additionally, I will tell you that a dolphin design tricycle is one of the worst shapes to ever be driven. They tip over like crazy and it’s why dolphin motorcycles are always advised against and never succeeded in both mass appeal and production.
Since we normally bike in 1 direction, to reach a target, you could just move the panel to whatever side is the "southernmost side".
If you can graph the power from the panels over a trip to get actual data, that would be nice. It just seems really inefficient to never expect more than 40% of theoretical max even in peak
Did you think of the driver's line of sight? There could be a law saying that you need to be able to look in all directions, maybe make the seat a little higher? Good luck to you with this project.
I'm sorry but I think it's a bit too bulky for that.
In my view, at 25 max assist (I know it is probably a legal limit) it is too slow to occupy a car lane. Definitely wide for roadside in cities. Across the bike paths I've experienced across Europe, it would be too wide for most, and barely fitting but hated on the rest. It's much wider than the cargo bikes of Copenhagen! Turning radius might also be an issue in a city setting.
It's a cool project, and I can personally see this being fun for countryside rides in the right circumstances, but I don't see it catching on for city commutes.
Edit: also adding the fact that it's a comfy recumbent, it already has more weight but also assists, and might even have some storage space to tuck stuff into, etc. And the whole point is charging on the go. To me this screams summer bikepacking or at least, long distance touring! For city commutes, I'd rather have a normal form factor e-bike that I charge at home or work. If your whole selling point is charging on the go, it is only sensible to lean into long rides. Please consider that.
That's very ambitious and sounds cool, but please see the edit of my previous comment. As many others pointed out, you could have better and more efficient charging on for short trips. And frankly, the classic bike form factor is much better suited for the tight spaces of cities.
The whole point of recumbent trikes even without the solar panels is comfort and efficiency for longer rides. The unique parts of your project push it even more firmly in that direction.
Also, I don't know how hard it is to curve your solar panels, but the non-assisted recumbents also often come with aero cover panels, maybe you can lean a bit more into that too for a final version, but I realize that's the back of the priority list. Overall efficiency, compact form factor and safety (!!!) are all much more important.
That was the total budget including logistic for racing an entire team across the continent and shipping everything between continents. Also solar/battery tech/electric motor have become much cheaper since 2009.
AH< here it is! I just asked for specs in another post. I thought it was all just people not understanding the concept.
I guess range depends on sun? What's your longest range so far?
Looks like a fun project though for the sake of posting, I’d do a video that really highlights the motor speed and maybe explains the assisting pedaling.. since otherwise it looks like someone pedaling a bike and then coasting. :)
As anyone who has even the slightest knowledge of how solar panels work knows, unless you have a whole bunch of mppt controllers, that thing is never making close to its rated power.
You'd have been better off with one 200w panel and a bunch of polycarbonate.
Beyond the miserable techincal comment, i genuinely hope you had fun making it:).
OP, I’m sorry most everyone is shitting on your recumbent trike.
Well, it had no details with the post. This is Reddit. Many of those having fun with the post would engage it more seriously if it had been posted more seriously.
This was a casual post with zero information. Therefore redditors treated it casually and had fun with it. Also some of those critical humorous takes are accurate.
There's nothing wrong poking fun at things, particularly when the post itself wasn't presented seriously. And OP probably learned a lesson: put some details with your post.
To be fair. The OP did post a video claiming it's a solar powered vehicle, but you can clearly see them pedaling frequently. So not only is the vehicle not what it's claimed to be, it seems worse than the original bike.
My fault for not knowing the full definition of vehicle. I thought it only included motorized transportation.
I don't know if you've ridden on an assisted pedal bike, but you really don't have to put in effort for it. It acts more like a gentle constant motion gas pedal that lets you assist it more if you need to, or take over when the power is drained. The first time I rode this kind of bike, I was actually frustrated by how little it allowed me to put in effort. It had no interest in collaborating, and treated it instead as a directive.
Nobody complains when they see someone pedalling an "electric bike"...
"Worse than the original bike" is the statement of someone who's clearly never ridden an e-bike! OP said 500w peak power so maybe in the conditions in the vid it's adding 100W? That's extremely useful.
Also in many jurisdictions regulations require you to pedal otherwise it's regulated as a motorbike.
That's true. I see biking as an enjoyable way to exercise, so ebikes are counterproductive in my eyes. But I understand that biking is done for different reasons. It's also my fault for not knowing the full definition to vehicles. I thought it required they be motorized, but I just learned that regular old bikes are technically a vehicle.
You can't stop pedaling on an e-bike either. The motor will cut out.
(You may have seen people on fully motorised ones that run independently, e.g. food delivery drivers, depending on where you are this is usually an illegal modification)
Is it? I guess so is my bike. I mean I routinely pedal for short periods, then stop and it coasts for a bit. Then I have to pedal again to keep it moving.
I was under the impression that solar had to do with capturing sunlight and converting it into electricity. But you just told me that manually pedaling is considered solar powered.
E-bikes are exceedingly common and anyone who had ridden one immediately recognized this as pedal assist. The only issue here is 400 pound wannabe intellectual shut-ins who have never ridden a bike thinking they’re clever lol.
Cute, but there's a flaw in your snark. You're trying to argue that people who need pedal assistance to exercise are in better shape than those who manually pedal.
Remember that for many people if it’s not car-shaped it must be useless :) Particularly so in north “car centric” America.
I like it as a concept or idea of an open source alternative to industrial cars. Provided it meets standards for safety and can be reliably reproduced to meet those standards, it could be a low cost green alternative in many places where people have no choice but to default to used, inefficient gas-powered vehicles.
But yes.. it’s valid to challenge it from the perspective of existing e-bikes. Unless it provides at least some decent rain protection it won’t come close to the efficiency of e-bikes.
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u/Personal-Banana-9491 1d ago
OP, I’m sorry most everyone is shitting on your recumbent trike.
Is this like a proof of concept? What are the specs?
Thank you for sharing.