Solar Powered Trike

David Pearce
Energy and the Environment
Professor Reza Toossi
Objective:

 Build a green vehicle that runs for free

purely off of the sun’s energy
 Eliminate the need to drive everywhere,
especially short trips.
 Promote the usage of green alternative
energies
Performance Goals

 The solar panels must fully charge the

batteries in a practical amount of time,
similar to that of a plug in charger.
 The vehicle must be legal to ride on the
street.
 The pedaling function must remain
unmodified
 Must be emission free
Design
 Simple 3 wheeler, battery powered
 High efficiency mono-crystalline solar panels to
charge batteries
 Baskets provide for batteries, storage and solar
panel mounts
 36V, 700 Watt peak Brushless Hub motor
integrated in front wheel, kit w / all components
including 110V-36V charger/ transformer
 Minimal modifications to trike
Calculations: Batteries

 3-12 volt 20 Amp/hour batteries in series

 =36V and 20 A/hr,
 P =(36V*20A/hr)
= 720 Watt/hr battery capacity
Battery choice was determined by capacity, price,
and weight.
Bigger batteries= Longer range, but longer
charge times, more money and more weight.
Calculations: Solar panels
 3-22V Solar panels in series = 66V
 1.2+ Amp current each panel
 Ohm’s Law P=(V*I)
 P=(66V*1.2A) = 80 Watts provided by solar panels
 Theoretical charge time:
 House hold current charges with constant wattage at a maximum
rate of 1.5 A, takes 6-8 hrs to fully charge from full discharge
voltage of 32V.
 Solar Panels charge at 1.2+ amps, slightly slower, but equivalent
in charging speed if batteries are kept from fully discharging,
above an experimentally determined cut-off voltage.
Calculations: Motor
 3 Phase Brushless motor, 700 Watts peak, 500 Watts RMS,
265 rpm ( no load)

 Theoretical top speed:

: 265rev | 60 min | (2)*(3.14)*(13”) rad | 1 ft | mile
min | hr | revolution | 12” | 5,280 ft
= 20.5 mph top speed

 Theoretical range:
: 20.5 miles | hr | 500 Watts RMS
hr | 720 Watts |
= 14.2 mile range
 Calculations: Charging
system
 A solar charge converter is needed to steadily and
efficiently charge the batteries with the varying input
power of the solar panels.

 A Maximum Power Point Tracking type solar charge

controller was chosen for it’s high efficiency, and ability to
run the panels at their peak output when conditions allow,
which shortens charging time.
Specifications
Input range: 0-100V
Output: 42.4V
Charging method: constant wattage
• (P=constant, as voltage goes up current goes down)
Testing / Analysis
 Testing showed that in order to charge the
batteries in a practical amount of time, the
experimentally determined cut-off voltage
needed was found to be around 36V. Thus
voltage must not drop below 36 V (12V each
battery), as inferred from the calculations, and
the panels will charge at an equivalent rate to
the household plug-in charger.
This limits the range to around 10 miles, but
longer trips can be made at the expense of
charging time.
Performance

 The Solar panels charge the batteries in

an adequate amount of time.
 10+ mile range
 18 MPH
 Climbs hills with pedaling
Conclusion:
 Solar energy is a viable source of power for a personal transport
vehicle, and has great potential as photovoltaic technology
evolves.
 Record high gas prices and excessive greenhouse gas emissions
are creating a market for green alternatives to fossil fuel based
transportation, such as the Solar Powered Trike.
 Total cost : $910

For more details, and to DIY visit www.instructables.com

Search - Solar Powered Trike

Purchase at www.solartrike.com - same concept, more

refined / expensive
Resources / Cost Breakdown


The Trike cost $910 to build
Schwinn Meridian Trike $250.00 www.K-Mart.com
Qcell Solar panels $330.00 www.Ebay.com....
Charge Controller $ 95.00 www.solarsellers.com
Electric Hub Motor Kit $260.00 www.goldenmotor.com
Batteries $ 60.00 Earl's industrial
liquidation, Hawthorne
High pressure tubes $ 15.00 Any bicycle store
Total $910.00