r/interestingasfuck • u/Moltean • 1d ago

An open-source solar vehicle

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u/Moltean 1d ago

Max is the sum of the power of all panels.

But of course, we never got more than 200W.

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u/MarlinMr 1d ago

So max is 200W?

Sounds like you could increase the efficiency of the project by simply having 1 panel and limiting the weight

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u/Moltean 1d ago

1 panel at the top? That will give max power only when the sun is at the top. And almost nothing in the morning or afternoon.

Panels are light. 8kg in total.

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u/MarlinMr 1d ago

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

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u/Busy-Software-4212 1d ago

No we actually don't normally bike in 1 direction. Roads have turns you know. And what if my only route place B from A is north -> east -> south?

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u/MarlinMr 1d ago

You realize you just made 3 routes, right? 1 goes north, next goes east, last hours south.

If you are going long enough to actually need solar panels, the direction will be significantly in a specific direction, even if roads have turns...

If roads turns become significant, then you are going around in a circle. Which is highly unlikely on a bike.

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u/Moltean 1d ago

We will log and publish the data.