Introduction: Ultimate 10 Watt USB Bicycle Generator

About: After being laid off in 2009, I got rid of my car to save money. The difficult transition from a car to a bicycle led me to start Solarcycle and design USB chargers that keep smart phones alive.

This Instructable is on how to create an Ultimate 10 Watt USB bike generator system combining dynamo and solar energy! It combines my previous Instructables for Solar USB Charger and Bicycle Solar/Dynamo USB Charger + Tail Lights with a new SivaCycle Atom dynamo wheel generator :

Previous Instructables -

https://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Solarpad-Kit-P...

https://www.instructables.com/id/Solar-and-Dynamo-B...

SivaCycle Atom dynamo wheel generator - http://sivacycle.com

Simply attach the SivaCycle Atom to the rear wheel and connect it to the solar rear rack. I had to remove the SivaCycle battery because it would not work in parallel with my Power Core battery. My Power Battery does a better job with managing power spikes up to 1.3 Amps to the storage battery and the ability to pass excess energy through to the USB device. I used a Charge Doctor that I bought off Adafruit to measure the power output - http://www.adafruit.com/products/1852

This combines .8 Amps from the SivaCycle Atom and up to 1.2 Amps from the solar panel at 5 Volts for a maximum of up to 10 Watts system output! This is great to create consistent energy while riding so that even when stopped at a stop light, the solar panel still generates energy and while riding under a dark tunnel or bridge, the dynamo still generates energy! Riding out in the sun will combine the energy of both generators for maximum output!

Bicycle Contest

Participated in the
Bicycle Contest