Solar powered Reverse Trike

SOLAR POWERED REVERSE TRIKE
Designed and built in just 18 days at the University of Engineering and Technology Lahore in Pakistan,  7 x 3.5 x 4.5 ft (2.13 x 1.06 x 1.37 meter), 132 pound (60 kg) low-rider features a custom built, t-shaped aluminum framework at the front of the vehicle, and the back part of an old bicycle frame at the rear, joined just behind the seating area to shock absorbers. The reverse three-wheeler - with two wheels at the front and one at the rear - also has a 40 watt photovoltaic canopy above the rider that charges the onboard 12v/80Ah dry cell solar battery.

An eco-friendly vehicle that uses solar energy as its source of input. A solar panel is used to charge the battery and the battery drives the dc motor.
Its a vehicle that uses reverse trike configuration, i-e two front wheels and a single wheel on the rear side. Steering is done with the help of front wheels. It also consists of a solar panel, Battery and a dc motor.

COMPONENTS:

Chassis
Solar Panel
Motor
Battery
Steering Mechanism
Chain and sprocket mechanism
Charging circuit

CONFIGURATION:

Length: 7ft
Width: 3.5ft
Height: 4.5ft
Weight: aprox~ 60kg
Motor: 24Volts DC, 17Amp
Battery: 12Volts, 80AH
Materials: Aluminum, Steel and Cast Iron

Material Quantity Cost (Rupees)
Aluminum Sections
(2’’ x 1’’) 12ft length
2 ...................................................2500
Aluminum Plates 2 .......................500
Steering Parts (hinges) 2 ...........150
Solar Panel 1 .............................12000
DC Motor 1 .................................7500
Battery 1 .....................................8000
Tire set 3 ....................................2400
Brake set 1 ................................100
Iron Plates 7’’ x 4’’ 2 .................300
Iron Plate 3’’ x 3’’ 2 ......................150
U shaped Iron Sections 4 ..........500
Aluminum Sections for Solar Panel length 6.5ft 2 .............600
Sprockets 2 .....................500
Handle 1 ..................100
Seat 1 .......................550
Cycle Chain 1 ..........................400
Chassis Rear Section 1 .....................1000
Nuts bolts washers and miscellaneous - ............2120
Labor Cost - ....................................7300
TOTAL COST - 46670/- Rupees (APPROX ~550 USD)

 

Please vote for my Instructable (you can see the image for "VOTE NOW!" on the top left of this page)

Step 1 3D Design of the Vehicle

First of all i made the 3D design of the vehicle in Solid Edge v20. Below are the picture of the vehicle.
This was a vital step in fabrication of the vehicle. So without considering any other thing i made the 3D Model of the Vehicle to give a proper look!....

Comments

[lhillyard]

Wow very impressive. i work at a machine shop and i want to build something like this. I didnt see any details on your controller though. care to enlighten me?

[farrukh khan]

thanks you so much .... well i just bought it from the local electronic store... its called "Charge Regulator or controller" also called "Cut-off circuit" well it consists of a relay and resistors and IC (dont know the specs) but its purpose is to cutt-off the supply from the Solar panel when batteries are fully charged in my case utt-off voltage was 13.9 Volts

[upevnz]

IC may be 8 PIN DIP 555 Timer IC.

[SafeArmsReview]

Very cool! Congrats! I am looking to make a trike that uses a scooter motor. Keep up the good work. Steve

[lokhande]

Very Good Farukh, i like your idea Good Luck.

[Jbeaubrun]

Why did you use a 12V battery for a 24V motor?

[akumar62]

Hi farrukh,
It was a pleasure to know about the project. Actually i was working on the same lines for some months. Now can you please tell me in detail how did you decide the pv pannel specifications n the battery. please mail the calculations to my email id
[e-mail]
Regards
Ashish

[farrukh khan]

thank you so much for the interest Ashish... but i have already provided enough information ... by which anyone can make there own vehicle like this... i can't give you more details and calculations as they are confidential...! Hope you understand.... thanks anyways

[jdsojopgjfg]

Hi farrukh,
It was a pleasure to know about the project. Actually i was working on the same lines for some months. Now can you please tell me in detail how did you decide the pv pannel specifications n the battery. please mail the calculations to my email id
[e-mail]
Regards
Pranav

[firepup104]

Hello
Great job, but how do you stop it

[j.h.patel05]

i did not found any content or discription about motor so please will you tell me its detail.

[dorybob]

Cool build and congratulations on winning the Green Challenge.

[farrukh khan]

thank you so much dorybob! I'm still surprised!

[j.h.patel05]

hi. i want to know that by once fully charged batery how much km it can run. and please tell me whole full discription of motor. motor'shp ,voltage , ampere, type of motor. and you made awesome vehicle.

[farrukh khan]

hi, thank yo so much ...
the info you need is written in Step 10.
However, it can go upto 70 km in single charge
motor is 24V DC, 17amps, makes it half HP
Cheers,
-Farrukh

[vanadium chrome]

DOES IT HAVE A SPEEDOMETER OR ELSE HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT IT TRAVELS AT A SPEED OF 30 MILES PER HOUR?

[farrukh khan]

ok firstly i would like to ask you where are you from?... secondly its 30kmph not mph.... and lastly no it does not have a speed-o-meter, yet we can measure its speed!... HOW?.... well we had motor bikes which traveled along with the vehicle .... and they had speedometer!... hope you understand the rest .... cheers

[Phoghat]

You tell him ! God, some people....

[RogerBays]

Hi. Great to see such a practical vehicle. What are all the battery and motor details?

[farrukh khan]

thank you so much!... well i have mention the details in the above steps however.. batter is 12V 80AH and the motor is 24V 17amps DC

[tsulehri]

what is the size of solar plates and how much electricity generates.

[farrukh khan]

well the size of the panel is 49" x 25" ... and by "How much" if you mean how many watts it generates then ... the panel generates ~40watt electricity

[aapurim]

. . . Performance might be improved by aerodynamic streamlining (a fairing to make the vehicle teardrop-shaped, with a frontal vent to keep the passenger cool) and by having a central pivot mounting for the solar panel, with a rod or string to adjust its tilt towards the sun whichever side it's on. 
. . . For better solar-power conversion, see developments in NanoSolar technology from CalTech University ...
http://nanopatentsandinnovations.blogspot.com/2010/02/caltech-researchers-create-highly_18.html
http://vikingmservices.blogspot.com/2009/05/nanosolars-thin-film-solar-power.html

[iffee]

well done Farrukh sahib.

1. I am interested in Solar Panel specifications and also exact source from where it can be purchased..

2. Charge controller seems from Electronik 2000 Hall Road Lahore.
What is its kit #

3. Is there any provision to get vehicle driven with pedal power in emergency?

[farrukh khan]

thankyou so much!..

1. well the panel i used was given to me by my university however it was a 48V DC 40Watt PV, Amorphous silicion panel.

2. yea its from electrinic 2000, but i dont remember its kit # but you can take from them by calling it "12V Cut-off cuicuit"

3. Not at the moment but by doing some mechanical changes it can be driven using pedals!
P.S. Cant talk in udru warna urdu main hi likhta! =D
regards
farrukh

[gmitchell6]

Dude, seriously that rocks! How much more effort to make it faster?

[farrukh khan]

thanks ... well not much... all i have to do is to use a speed controller and a Gearing mechanism (which i was gonna use but unfortunately wasn't able to do coz of short time period)

[kheath2]

SO you have a 12V battery. Assuming the battery is fully charged when you set off, how much is the range improved by adding the solar panel?

How long would the solar panel take to charge the battery fully?

[amorarun]

Nice work n you got my vote :)

[farrukh khan]

Thanks you so much =)

[sillywilly]

Farrukh Khan,
Very good 1st try especially considering the short time period you had to complete. Are you going to continue improving this vehicle or perhaps sell and start a second one? If so, I would suggest at least a single A-arm (if not double) suspension up front with coil-over shocks, perhaps small airbag suspension, or my favorite design, swing axles. One of the best written and executed articles I have run across in quite a while. It's in 16 parts covering all aspects of building a custom human-powered trike and testing for best full suspension. So I'll give you the link to the first article and you can go from there... autospeed dot com/cms/A_108591/article.html A person will need to condense the link, removing spaces and replacing the word "dot" with a period. Instructables apparently didn't like me putting a link in here. :-/

PS, I gave you top rating also :-)

[farrukh khan]

thanks you so much silly willy... actually it was a project for my university so its no with me any more!... i'm considerig the isea of making a new one!...and for sure i will use A-arm suspension... coz actually its my favourite!... thanks for the comment really appreciate!

[herreran]

Farrukh, consider also a regenerative braking when considering a speed controller. Good luck and success!!!

[farrukh khan]

yea sure i will.... in my next project hopefully... :)

[dbonaire]

Excellent work farrukh!! Very good work here!!

[farrukh khan]

thanks you so much dbonaire :)

[herreran]

Hi Farrukh,

Nice job!!! I was wondering, what did you use as a speed control? and what about stopping?

Thanks,

Norberto

[farrukh khan]

hi norberto,

Firstly Thank you very much secondly i used gear mechanism to change the speed of the vehicle...i was gonna use the circuit but due to shortage of the submission time i had o go with the gears ... and i used brakes to stop the vehicle.

Regards
Farrukh

[flyingpuppy]

Jaw-droppingly good! The government needs to hire you to solve the petroleum problem.

[farrukh khan]

thank you so much!... and yes indeed!... In my opinion solar is the best alternative!