Category: Design & Construction

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A wondefull solar bike unveiled at the #HECEnergyDay

During the Sun Trip in 2017, Daniele had another solar bike when we ride together. His new recumbent bike is amazing with its two back tilting wheels.
On the photo, we see him with Sushil, another participant of the Sun Trip, which rolled by bicycle thousands of km thanks to the solar power.
Fantastic solar bike & guys !!!

Visits: 86

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A participant in Sun Trip 2018!

Bernard Cauquil will participate in the next Sun Trip 2018: he is actively preparing and associating his students with the preparation of the prototype! In Sun Trip 2015, Bernard had proved that the solar bike he designed was very effective: he had been the fastest of all participants in a distance of 7500 km, achieving an average of 280 km per day!

Visits: 92

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Technical report of this Sun Trip 2017

What worked well:

  • The bike, the engine and its controller:
    no worry for me, I became aware of my luck in seeing several participants complain about their controller, running irregularly with jerk in their engine.
  • Battery :
    On this second-hand bike with an end-of-life battery, I had reconditioned it with new Lithium Ion cells. The company had proposed to increase its capacity: the evolution of the cells since 2010 and the increase in the number of elements made it possible to multiply by three the original storage capacity (of 9.6 Ah, it is increased to 28Ah). This proved very useful for this journey with, at the beginning, a capricious weather and then with significant differences in elevation.
    State of Charge: Since I could not recalibrate the indication of the charge level, I had to learn, over the days, one to interpret the voltage of my battery indicated on my power meter.
    Regeneration of the battery in the descents: a priori, I did not think to use it because of controversies read in forums. But I finally used it from the 3rd day: in Ardeche, in the descent of Lamastre Tournon-sur-Rhone with a negative drop of 500m, I was able to fully recharge my battery. Then, in the Alps, I always used it: for example, at the Iseran pass, my battery was empty and the descent to Val d’Isère recharged it to 90%. 
  • Solar and its regulation:
    The Genasun regulators have made their service perfectly, the solar panels too. On the other hand, connectivity quickly showed signs of weakness and required interventions. Choosing its connectors while thinking about vibration, rain, sand is paramount.
  •  Panels:
    Good operation also for the sliding rail system for the 2 lateral solar panels (to reduce the width of the trailer). I used it on roads with high traffic especially in the valley of the Rhone and in Lyon.

What caused me trouble:

It was the intermediate structure between the solar panels and my trailer that was cause for concern for me and required interventions. My constant search for lightness was at the expense of solidity.
Moreover, to divert parts from their original function, by not knowing well the mechanical constraints that they were going to undergo – continuous vibrations, pitching – constituted a risk-taking …
The positive of this experience is that I have learned to cope with the means of the edge: RILSAN collars of any size, DuckTape adhesive or packing brown …

Visits: 112

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How much does my solar vehicle weigh?

In recent weeks, various evolutions have altered the mass of my bike: the battery, refurbished to store more energy *, is now a little heavier (its capacity of 9, 6Ah at the origin is passed to now to 28Ah) and on the trailer, I chose not Keep only 4 solar panels instead of the 5 originally planned. I weighed myself, then carrying the bike, and finally, carrying the trailer. Knowing that the weight of the luggage is estimated at 8kg (tent and duvet included), it is up to you to do the calculations from the photos to know:

  • The weight of the bike,
  • The weight of the trailer,
  • The weight of all of my solar vehicle and its pilot.
The cyclist alone
The cyclist and the bike The cyclist and the trailer

Visits: 122

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The icing on the cake!

I needed to weld two pieces and, given the finesse of these steel parts, my arc welding station was not suitable, it would have melted everything. He is a young mechanic from my neighborhood-retro Performance-who brought all his know-how to make me embarrassed. Let him be thanked! What will be the use of these pieces: even if the departure is in 10 days, I keep hoping to add to my prototype the icing on the cake imagined from the beginning of the project: the possibility of orienting the solar panels in the direction of the sun. This orientation would be carried out on a single axis of course, the axis of the trajectory of the bike, and only the days without wind.

SunTrip 2017

Visits: 93

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What if the sun is hiding for several days in a row?

I hike quite often in the mountains and fortunately so far I have never had a disastrous weather on a full or two weeks. On the other hand, I've already had gray or rainy days on a few nights. What will happen with our solar bikes if you have 3 days in a row where we cannot recharge the battery? In the middle of the Alps, with passes to cross? Well I guess we'll need good thighs and good calves… In order to avoid this eventuality, I chose to swap my crankset for a MTB pedal, with smaller trays, so. But when I tried to mount a SLX crankset, oddly enough I could not make the settings for each tray to pass correctly. So I entrusted my mount to my bicycle mechanic, gables-on-streets, and he found the solution! The problem is that the joysticks are not necessarily adapted to the draw of the MTB pedals. The solution was to use a very old Shimano RSX 100 type controller. The knowledge and know-how of our Yokohama bicycle shops is irreplaceable!

SunTrip 2017

Visits: 103