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

The Sun Trip seen by the students of the Tremouille school

A meeting with the CM level students from the Trémouille school in Dijon allowed to introduce them to my solar bike and to question them about its functioning: what are the different forms of energies implemented, what transformations from a form of energy to another, what differences between renewable energies and fossils …

In the school newspaper, students reported on their discoveries, the story of the first bike to the electric bike, the adventure of the Sun Trip and the diversity of solar bikes …

Visits: 102

New adventures in 2018 and 2019 !

The name of this blog changes !
This blog opened in December 2016, because of my registration to the challenge of the Sun Trip Tour in July 2017. But now, 2017 is behind us. On this January 1st, 2018, I must think about the future and the adventures that it will reserve.
“a solar bike adventure” (www.aventure-solaire.fr) becomes “Solar bike adventures” ( www.aventures-solaires.fr )

Although the Sun Trip 2018 made me dream a lot last spring (a trip from Lyon to Canton in China), I will not participate for many reasons. At most I will participate to the prologue that will be organized before departure : many of ancient suntripeurs will have pleasure to ride, for a few days, wuith the participants of the 2018 edition of Sun Trip.

However, I am already enrolled in the Sun Trip Tour 2019. I am now working on a new trailer to support my solar panels. I also focus on the realization of an arduino-based instrument for measuring energy captured by solar panels. The Kelle Fabrik FabLab of Dijon is once again my partner in this project.

Visits: 91

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

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

Map of the followed route

Each participant had the choice of his itinerary with the only constraint of the rally points every 2 days. Some have followed more solitary routes, others have shared their itineraries.

See the full screen route

Stage of 8 July:
[sgpx gpx= “http://www.aventure-solaire.fr/GPX/SportyPal-2017-07-08_SunTrip.gpx” mtype=OSM6 uom=2 download=allow]

Stage of 9 July:
[sgpx gpx= “http://www.aventure-solaire.fr/GPX/SportyPal-2017-07-09_SunTrip.gpx” mtype=OSM6 uom=2]

Stage of 10 July:
[sgpx gpx= “http://www.aventure-solaire.fr/GPX/SportyPal-2017-07-10_SunTrip.gpx” mtype=OSM6 uom=2]

Stage of 11 July:
[sgpx gpx= “http://www.aventure-solaire.fr/GPX/SportyPal-2017-07-11_SunTrip.gpx” mtype=OSM6 uom=2]

Stage of 12 July:
[sgpx gpx= “http://www.aventure-solaire.fr/GPX/SportyPal-2017-07-12_SunTrip.gpx” mtype=OSM6 uom=2]

Stage of 13 July:
[sgpx gpx= “http://www.aventure-solaire.fr/GPX/SportyPal-2017-07-13_SunTrip.gpx” mtype=OSM6 uom=2]

Stage of 14 July:
[sgpx gpx= “http://www.aventure-solaire.fr/GPX/SportyPal-2017-07-14_SunTrip.gpx” mtype=HYBRID uom=2]

Visits: 62

Arrival in Lyon: the Sun Trip in the media

France3, July 21: Sun Trip 2017:33 out of 37 bikes arrived in Lyon! On July 21, the "Sun tripers" came to the end of their sporting and technological challenge! There are 33 of the 37 who had started two weeks ago from Clermont-Ferrand. Not bad, after 1200 kilometers, 20 000 meters of positive elevation, and some big passes of the Alps! »

Le Progrès, 22 July : The Sun trip stops at Trévoux

Le Progrès, 24 July : The Sun trip at Pont-d’Ain

Magazine 20 minutes, 21 July : The arrival of the sun trip in Lyon

Visits: 90

Distances and elevation

Here are the distances and elevation recorded by my GPS.

DateDistancePositive elevationNegative elevation
8 juil. 20171029631108
9 juil. 201758929752
10 juil. 201712410131522
11 juil. 2017821239374
12 juil. 201711823421684
13 juil. 20178510701294
14 juil. 20174813731000
16 juil. 201712527202328
17 juil. 20171254272165
18 juil. 2017115539610
19 juil. 2017130305317
20 juil. 201743137187
21 juil. 2017302116
TOTAL1191 km+13 151 m-13 400 m

Visits: 98

Final stage and arrival in Lyon

Departure from Trévoux for the lock house where we have an appointment with the local and departmental representatives: the communities concerned have the project of Aménagemer a cycle path along the Saône to Lyon: La ViaSaôna. The runway is strongly paved with pebbles drawn from the Saône and thus not very rolling. When we arrived in Lyon, we all gathered on the Pont Masarik before we went into procession in the tunnel of the Croix Rousse, on a special road for bicycles.

Visits: 99