Solar Powered Trike

Travel for free with the power of the sun!

How to build a Solar Powered Trike

The purpose of this project is to build a vehicle that:

-Provides free, 'green' transportation for short distances (<10 miles), thus it must never
plug into a wall socket, or emit any pollutants.

-Charges while at work

-Is cheap, simple, and low maintenance.

-Draws attention to the practical application of green energies, and promotes Fossil Fuel alternatives.

-Reduces excess automobile wear and pollution from cold driving / short, in town trips.

-This is a is a project for Dr. Reza Toosi's 'Energy and the Environment, a global perspective' class at California State University, Long Beach. We look at the sources, technologies, and impacts of energy on our environment.

Link to other class projects, some of Dr. Toosi's ENG-302i lectures, and other interesting videos.

http://www.csulb.edu/~rtoossi/engr302i

Short video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIiJp4aKDHM

Step 1: Acquire a vehicle

Find a lightweight vehicle with low rolling resistance. A two, three or four wheeler will do, depending on how much work you want to do, but the concept is the same. Four wheeled vehicles may be regulated under different laws. Of course the best vehicle is one that you already have, if you happen to have a three or four wheeled pedal powered vehicle. In the interest of simplicity, a three wheeler was chosen for my project. This Schwinn Meridian Trike was $250 new, readily available locally, and the basket provides a convenient location for batteries and solar panels with minimal fabrication.

The first thing to be done was completely disassemble the trike and paint it a bright 'fern' green. This step may not be necessary, but I felt that it was in my case since this is a school project that is supposed to grab your attention, and let you know that it is a true green vehicle. It is a vehicle that does not use gas, and does not plug in to a wall socket, which would defeat the purpose since electricity from the grid likely comes from a non-renewable energy source. It runs on pure solar energy.

Before painting the frame, I used this stage as an opportunity to reinforce the frame where the Batteries were going to mount. Lead acid Batteries are heavy, but they are relatively cheap.
One tube was welded in to distribute the load over 4 points on the axle carrier instead of two.
It also ties the rear sub-frame together, which makes the tube the load bearer rather than the weld beads, which may eventually fatigue and fail.

High pressure (65psi) tubes were equipped and the Trike was meticulously assembled in order to minimize rolling resistance.

While the welder was out a battery mount was fabricated, and bolts welded to the basket to be used as battery mount studs making removal easier. 12 volt LED's were put in the reflectors and wired as brake lights through the brake levers that cut the motor when you brake. They are wired through only one of the three 12 volt batteries.

Comments

[Kris T.]

I have no knowledge on anything solar or batteries, therefore please forgive my question if it sounds really "stoopid."

Would it be possible to combine some sort of crank/wind up power (similar to those camping/emergency flashlights) via the pedals and chain in addition to the solar, for a little extra power on cloudy days or evenings?

[Kris T.]

Also meant to say: "Really love your idea!" I guess typing late at night doesn't benefit one very well.

[solarbipolar]

All you people need to realize that those solar panels could take as much as a week or longer to recharge the batteries. A good example is a cordless rechargeable lawn mower. They use an almost identical setup - 24v motor and two 12v batteries. One mower manufacturer sells a solar panel as an option and tell you up front that it will take at least 3 days if in full sun. But you can't keep the panels always pointed at the sun without a tracker. Most of the cheaper solar panels are nothing but trickle chargers that just keep batteries topped off like on RVs or other vehicles that have a lot of accessories that drain a battery even if not being used. And no, you can't ride down the road perpetually with sun power and no batteries. It's just common sense. There are experimental solar cars that have competitions, but they have huge arrays of solar cells and use flat terrain and hug the ground and are streamlined.

[mbucy]

I have a Black & Decker cordless electric lawn mower also. There are numerous nay sayers that can say how things cannot/or should not be done. Make a constructive criticizim solution part of your suggestion. This is a well done Instructable that hopefully challenges others to see how they may improve it. It sparks interest and challenges others to come up with a better way- Stay positive. No matter what country you live in, stockpile "stuff" for inventing. :)

[lloydrmc]

We don't need to "realize" any such thing. He presented the math and the limitations of the system, and his numbers add up. He's not deep charging the battery, but rather topping it off.

[mbucy]

This is a great project with the ability to be modified for rear wheel drive with spare parts. Tread mill motors and the like. Great imagination. I have often been called Gadget Man for all the tinkering I do and I love to see young people from all over the world with their instructables. I am 60 y/o Mechanical Engineer, have spinal stenosis, arthritis, neuropathy but I am never opposed to constructive criticism. The fun of this tinkering is the tinkering to me. Have fun you guys - keep on tinkering (Inventing).

[lewislaura41]

Commercial Solar Panels are Expensive!
Fact: It will take you more than 10 years to pay back
Solution: Using Surplus Solar Cells You can get pay back in 1-2 years
There is an Engineer from Chicago his name is John Sommer
He explain it All in his Solar Panels Website. 

[fahadshihab]

add a generator(as in the diagram)to the wheels of the trike.let the no.of turns in the coil be >300 so it can produce enough energy while driving the bike.

[jolshefsky]

It's a cute concept but rather expensive for not much benefit. I figure your panels total about 30 watts of power, and you have 720 watt-hours of batteries. Assuming perfect efficiency in your charging circuit, that's 24 hours of direct sun. You can count on a sunny day providing about 5 direct-sun-hours (that is, in 8 hours of sunlight, you get only a little while at noon and a whole lot at lower and lower angles so about 5 hours.) Thus, dead batteries would take about 5 days to recharge completely. You'd be better off having about half the battery capacity and only using half of that — in other words, about 360 watt-hours of battery capacity and only use up to about 150 watt-hours a day (which is what your panels can charge) which keeps the batteries above 50% charge so they'll last much longer.

[lloydrmc]

He stated that he only partly discharges the batteries.

[lloydrmc]

I really like your project: it is well-executed and well-explained. The enhancement that I would suggest is some means to prop up the solar panels to a more efficient angle, at least when the bike is parked.

Unfortunately, the easiest thing to find in the United States is someone who says you cannot do something, and that appears to be doubly so on this web site.

People - look at the top of this page. It says "Share What You Make", not "Only Present The Completely Perfect In Every Regard" or "Criticize What Other People Made".

I am by no means a flaming greenie, and dpearce1 clearly put a lot of thought, time and effort into this project, and it was well designed and executed, IMNSHO, so it deserves kudos and not criticism.

[OppositePoles]

I think your project is amazing!
Don't pay attention to morons who only have the imagination to criticize your work instead of creating something on their own.
Thanks for sharing your work! :D

[kentuski]

why you put your solar cell in front of the bike, its hard to drive it, instead build a roof and put all your cell on the top of it , and it is also safe while driving the bike,by the way its a good project,

[adsandy]

Wouldn't it be easier to just pedal?

[Climber333]

Unless you're disabled, which adds a whole new dimension, doesn't it? Thanks again people for thinking outside your own tiny box.

[adsandy]

Well then, how does the disabled person get on and off? What if it malfunctions during the ride? How is a disabled person to construct one?

[Climber333]

Would you like to know the range of disabilities a person can have or are you asking me personally...perhaps you're offering to help. A one-handed person could do all those things...one-legged...an auto-immune disease...Chronic Fatigue Syndrome...Fibromyalgia....Lyme disease. Perhaps a 20 second period of thinking before you ask.

[adsandy]

Most of the people with those diseases could peddle. Those with severe pain are most likely already medicated. Someone with that severe of pain would be smart to choose something professionally made rather than this homemade thing. They would need something reliable. I honestly believe that this is an impractical vehicle for disabled people. I'd appreciate it if you could offer criticism without insulting me.

[Dr.Bill]

Hey this would be good for me as I have arthritis ! I am not "Medicated" as I do not like the side effects. I can peddle for some distance and would not mind having something like this. A Motorized Chair to me just makes me more sedentary and prone to worse diseases, like diabetes.
Being a couch potato is not my idea of having a life and this trike would make my life worth living. Thank You dpearce1 for posting this I'ble.

[Climber333]

And I'd appreciate it if you'd try to give disabled people the credibility they deserve. Sarcasm toward your questions was well deserved, given the lack of critical thinking necessary to make them possible.
Where are you getting your information about what people with the diseases I mentioned are capable of? Are you inventing it? I am on Trazadone and Morphine and it doesn't manage my pain....if I push too hard, I end up setting myself back weeks or months or going into a full relapse, so pedaling is not always possible .
My history is one of being an Olympic caliber athlete with a range of skills from building computers to being a certified arborist. There's little I cannot do, given the tools and time and I can assure you, I make things better than you can buy (if you have the money to buy off the shelf).
You can't fit all disabled people into the same box, so just decide if it's practical for yourself and let others decide for themselves.

[sgomes3]

Excellent instructables. Thank you for sharing.

[jimbo13]

my calculator says it costs $ 1,010

[knexfan100]

one of my old bikes had a battery motor but, to save money I replaced the battery with a rechargeable one. the way it was powered:
I will only say I turned the back tire into a generator and waterproofed the whole thing and had those parts protected in case of a crash.

[Climber333]

Excellent...That's what I was thinking too.

[solarbipolar]

(removed by author or community request)

[Climber333]

You could add a simple electro-magnetic charging system to pedal power the batteries if the sun is not sufficient.
I wonder why people think so narrowly on any given subject....if you built it as a recumbent, you could even have a arm pedal option for those who are disabled and not able to use their legs.
In Colorado, all things are "optimally pointed" at the sun nearly year round !anyway, why not make the most of it?!?

[jjroper]

In the light of all these comments, it looks to me that getting rid of the weight of the motor and the panels would make it much easier to just pedal this thing!

[Climber333]

Unless you're disabled, which adds a whole new dimension, doesn't it? Thanks for thinking outside your box.

[mtdna]

But that's not much fun, is it?

But seriously, I think it is worth doing this kind of thing as a kind of proof of principle. No, it's not ideal, but it's a step forward.

My response based on my own experience is this: I had no idea roads are so tilted!! I found myself pretty uncomfortable riding this on roads because I always felt like I was tipping over. My engineer friend told me there is a reason for this - virtually all roads are high in the middle to make sure rain runs off.

I really didn't like the tilt of the trike on roads, so I've rebuilt as a bicycle. Also, I found the solar panels cumbersome to ride with, so I built a little station with the panels at home. But, in the end, the principle is the same.

[lame_penguin]

Put the solar cells in the wheels, then you can just lay it in the sun to charge. Probably wouldn't want the front tire a solid sheet of cells, maybe only the center, but the back wheel can be all cells, like the solid back wheel on those I've seen in the Olympic games. Plus you can get the added benefit of a more aerodynamic wheel, as the racing bicycle does.

lp

[rusheggie]

sorry if something like this has already been said - but i am surprised that a solar bike isn't on here with the panel(s) above the rider's head on an awning. like on some quadricycles ("surrey bikes"). it would provide shade and more solar energy... maybe more drag though...

[mblackwood]

I like the idea.

In santa cruz, there's a guy riding around on a scooter, with a similar set-up- but mostly for holding surfboards, and nothing related to solar. I think that it could easily be adapted to do just exactly what you are describing.

[praveenjun07]

hi this is r.praveen i need some materials for this Fabrication of solar operated tricycle.

[wilmadan]

the idea here is to use the power of the sun to power the bike,if we could make a much better design ,well we will all benefited....thanks for the idea mr. dpearce 1...

[Johenix]

Thanks for alerting me to the Schwinn Meridian. Cool even without solar power.
As an alternative I might look at the old 80cc 0.01Hp "Chicken Power" two cycle motor from the 1970-80's.
What really bugs me is the power wheel uses 36V (rather than 12V) and you must use multiple 12V panels and batteries (adding excessive weight).
Does anyone make lower voltage wheel motors or higher voltage solar panels?

[lukeyj15]

the only problem is that to get the same amount of watts (energy) at a lower voltage, current (amps) increases, so you need 3 12v batteries in parallel instead of series. You also need wire that is 3 times thicker.

[tauruslatino]

just a question...how long it will take to recharge the bateries?

[Smithhound]

Solar and Wind are still evolving. If owning and operating a car are getting too much or you simply cannot afford it, I recommend finding a decent bike and putting an electric motor on it. In November it'll be 2 years no car for me. In San Diego. 9 mi commute each way. 48v and 58 tooth front 11 rear and I'm pedaling @ 35mph. It's not a motorcycle. It's an assist that makes this alternative to owning a car more viable. I've traveled 35 miles on a 20 amp hour battery. If your ready to try this I can help you. 20 is plenty.

[cricket3_2000]

I thought the spokes and wheel of the bikes were made out of sturdy aluminum. Are they?

[static]

 Good instructable. Too bad so many of the comments got strange though.