Canadian Firm Develops Ingenious Solar-powered Bike

[jpak]

http://www.evworld.com/view.cfm?section=communique&newsid=11808

Canadian Entrepreneur, Peter Sandler, President of Therapy Products and Inventor of the E-V Sunny

Bicycle developed the first all Solar electric bicycle driven completely from power derived from the Sun’s Rays. The E-V Sunny Bicycle has light absorbing Solar panels built right into the Wheels, creating continual power from the Sun’s Rays, and maintaining a constant charge to the batteries. The bike is propelled by a 500 watt front hub motor.

The variable speed electronic controller drives the bike to speeds of up to 30 kilometers per hour. Overall weight of the bicycle is 75 lbs. and comes with 17 amp hr. batteries and a built in battery charger.

Cost of the E-V Sunny Bicycle is $1295.00 and comes with a 90-day warrantee. The cost of the kit starts at $795.00, and the Company provides after sales servicing.

<not much more>

[phantom power]

1. For 13 hundred bucks, I'd want better than a 90 day warranty :-)

Not to quibble, but really.

[lfairban]

18. It is very componentized . . .

. . . so repair shouldn't be that expensive. A one year warranty would be better.

The most expensive replacement would be the motor if it burnt out. That would be 2 or 3 hundred.

The bike itself without the motor would be that much.

[LibertyorDeath]

2. Wow this is amazing

You can get the kit for $795 Canadian



Rec!

[phantom power]

3. Incident angle on those panels is going to be low a lot of the day.

Kind of clever place to put them, though. I assume they're protected from road debris, feet, etc...

[eppur_se_muova]

4. Make the axles wider -- cone-shaped "hub caps" ??

Better yet, the most efficient bikes are recumbent, with wind fairings. Could build the PV cells into the fairing behind behind the driver.

[skids]

15. That would retard the angle on the down side.

My guess is they are using a variety of panel that isn't very sensitive to incidence angle, though.

[Ready4Change]

16. Depends on how the bike is stored.

When you're riding it the panels would be at a bad angle. But it you stored it on its side, you could get pretty good exposure.

Not sure regarding the durability of the panels. There are tougher, flexible panels out there, but I'd think these would be exposed to dings from pebbles, as well is just everyday bumps and knocks. A 90 warranty tells me the manufacturer is so sure yet, either.

Hub motor: Looks like the panels are shallow cones, as if laid on the outside of the wheels spokes. There are any number of motor types that could fit in there.

Interesting configuration. Something to watch.

[Trillo]

5. Looks interesting!

Seems like this would fix the "sweat" and "shower" issue of biking to work during good weather!

[icehenge]

6. interesting alternative

I like seeing stuff like this developed.

[SnoopDog]

7. I admire innovation...but

What about when the sun is at high noon? It would seem that the solar array is relatively perpendicular to sun. Exactly how much direct sun would hit the cells? and the 500 watt motor in the hub is almost invisible...

:shrug:

[Dead_Parrot]

9. You have to corner fast...

:D

[lfairban]

20. Please note that it has 17 amp hr. batteries.

I figure it is a 2 battery 24 volt system. My e-bike came with 12 amp hr. batteries. When they wore out, I replaced them with 7 amp hr. batteries to reduce the weight. It cuts down on the range and battery life but since I don't go that far usually, the performance advantage is usually preferable. With a pair of 17s you should be able to go pretty far on a fully charged battery with no sunlight.

What this will do is to extend the range and give you the option of charging by leaving the bike in the sunlight rather than use the adapter. For instance, if you are a student living in a studio apartment with only curbside parking, you might find it inconvenient to drag the bike in the house to recharge every evening. You could make the battery pack detachable, but that is no where as easy as leaving the bike in the sun.

[kestrel91316]

8. Hmmmm - for $200 I got an ingenious human-powered bike.

[phantom power]

19. And they work rather well, don't they :-)

[kestrel91316]

21. Clever little devices, indeed.

[Pooka Fey]

10. HappySlug ?? Are you there??

HappySlug is the Peak Oil forum bicycle guru - if anyone has the scoop on a new kind of bike, it's HappySlug.

[Nostradammit]

11. Exciting idea, however -

This looks a bit fishy to me. The 90 day warranty is a joke and the literature at the company's web site is scant and unpersuasive. Where is the motor? Click on the photo and tell me that doesn't look a little hmmmmm...


http://www.therapyproducts.com/products_sunnybike.html


If it works, more power to 'em.

[NNadir]

12. Off topic, but I love the picture at the end of your post.

Christ, not Christ.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

I'm sure this, the "Not Christ" comes as a revelation to some of those now invisible people who were in the close to 90% who approved of Bush back in the darkest, most disheartening days.

[phusion]

14. it is very weird...

The battery is presumably in the rack on the back...But I don't see any wires leading to into it? Why can't they show the drive side of the bike in their photos?

And those certainly don't look like any solar panels that I've ever seen...

:shrug:

[PATRICK]

13. Costs less than a

mountain bike or other advanced human powered vehicles? People quibbling about the cost haven't been to a
specialty bike store recently.

But here we enter again to what happened when the European mopeds and velos tried to break into the market. They were not allowed on main roads and being gas powered were a humiliating downsize of the minority of the macho population that drives high powered motorcycles instead of a miraculous bicycle.
The auto may still drive this sensible short distance alternative for basic travel off the roads.

[jpak]

17. It's in the same price range as an E-bike (that doesn't have PV panels).

and similar in performance too.

For summer weather commutes - it would be ideal, but I would like to see some fenders on it for those rainy days...