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It isnt practical. The trickle from the solar panels is basically irrelevant. It would be far more efficient to attach the panels to a grid, somewhere they ca

It isnt practical. The trickle from the solar panels is basically irrelevant. It would be far more efficient to attach the panels to a grid, somewhere they can operate coninuously with a view of the sun, then charge the bike off the grid. But virtue signaling is often more important than practicality.

poopbutt7 4y ago
Agreed- another waste of space on the front page. This hobbyist should be embarrassed by their folly.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
ThatPlayer 4y ago
I think it's a matter of scale. That's a 50W panel, it would relatively expensive to get an inverter and an inspection/plan from your power company just to be able to use the grid as a battery. Also it would be less efficient because of the AC conversion. My personal preferred way to do this would be to have a stationary battery to charge up, and better solar panel positioning like you say, but that costs a bit more for that stationary battery. And if the only thing that battery/solar setup is used for is charging the bike, and you don't actually need more power then all that extra power is just gonna go to waste.
- fomine3 4y ago
  Yeah, such cost is my blocker to install cheap solar panel on my home. On-grid solar system equipment is expensive but I don't have any good use case for unstable off-grid solar. If I drive e-bike, charging removable batteries by off-grid solar looks perfect use case, but I always drive a car.
  - ThatPlayer 4y ago
    The solar inverter for my off-grid setup does allow for fallback to grid power if the solar and battery are out. So I would be able to do stable "partially solar" power without having to dump power back into the grid. Still not sure it's worth the cost, as you'd need a very consistent power draw to make a return, or batteries that make the return take even longer. Still a fun project though, and not something I built to make a return on.
- Scoundreller 4y ago
  I'm waiting for someone to build a grid-solar hybrid refrigerator/freezer that can attach to a 50w or 100w PV running at "low-voltage" ie: < 48V. No permit/electrician required, no grid-intertie inspection required. Modern fridges are often inverter drive, so should be easier to incorporate a DC power source. And they generally run all the time because they do variable-frequency drive. Best part, it keeps working during power outages. Extra points for putting on a USB charging port (only works during the day, but still!).
  - fbdab103 4y ago
    I am waiting for the same, but with air conditioners. A crappy $100-$200 window unit, plugged into an equally baseline solar panel. Free opex cooling that could be installed for basically no work.
    - irq 4y ago
      An air conditioner - even a crappy $200 window unit - will draw an order of magnitude more power than OP’s 50 watt refrigerator. You’ll need much more solar, either more panels or bigger panels (likely both).
      - fbdab103 4y ago
        Ah nuts, you are right. Cursory glance is showing smallest AC units at 450 watts. Still kinda-sorta-attainable by a couple of bigger panels, but significantly more capital expenditure when hoping to get some minor "free" cooling.
  - adrianN 4y ago
    Joey Hess built one: https://joeyh.name/offgrid/fridge/ https://joeyh.name/offgrid/fridge/
Rebelgecko 4y ago
It's sounds like this IS (mostly) a case of charging the bike "off the grid". If the trickle charging changes the usability of the bike from "charge it every 2-3 days" to "only charge it when there's multiple cloudy days in a row", that's a huge step up in convenience.
- ilyt 4y ago
  The problem is that the way it was done looks pretty inconvenient with panel being high up and potentially in the way
renewiltord 4y ago
Hobby DIY is a fun thing for many people to try. But spending all your time online is often more important than building.

poopbutt7 4y ago

Agreed- another waste of space on the front page. This hobbyist should be embarrassed by their folly.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

ThatPlayer 4y ago

I think it's a matter of scale. That's a 50W panel, it would relatively expensive to get an inverter and an inspection/plan from your power company just to be able to use the grid as a battery. Also it would be less efficient because of the AC conversion. My personal preferred way to do this would be to have a stationary battery to charge up, and better solar panel positioning like you say, but that costs a bit more for that stationary battery. And if the only thing that battery/solar setup is used for is charging the bike, and you don't actually need more power then all that extra power is just gonna go to waste.

fomine3 4y ago
Yeah, such cost is my blocker to install cheap solar panel on my home. On-grid solar system equipment is expensive but I don't have any good use case for unstable off-grid solar. If I drive e-bike, charging removable batteries by off-grid solar looks perfect use case, but I always drive a car.
- ThatPlayer 4y ago
  The solar inverter for my off-grid setup does allow for fallback to grid power if the solar and battery are out. So I would be able to do stable "partially solar" power without having to dump power back into the grid. Still not sure it's worth the cost, as you'd need a very consistent power draw to make a return, or batteries that make the return take even longer. Still a fun project though, and not something I built to make a return on.
Scoundreller 4y ago
I'm waiting for someone to build a grid-solar hybrid refrigerator/freezer that can attach to a 50w or 100w PV running at "low-voltage" ie: < 48V. No permit/electrician required, no grid-intertie inspection required. Modern fridges are often inverter drive, so should be easier to incorporate a DC power source. And they generally run all the time because they do variable-frequency drive. Best part, it keeps working during power outages. Extra points for putting on a USB charging port (only works during the day, but still!).
- fbdab103 4y ago
  I am waiting for the same, but with air conditioners. A crappy $100-$200 window unit, plugged into an equally baseline solar panel. Free opex cooling that could be installed for basically no work.
  - irq 4y ago
    An air conditioner - even a crappy $200 window unit - will draw an order of magnitude more power than OP’s 50 watt refrigerator. You’ll need much more solar, either more panels or bigger panels (likely both).
    - fbdab103 4y ago
      Ah nuts, you are right. Cursory glance is showing smallest AC units at 450 watts. Still kinda-sorta-attainable by a couple of bigger panels, but significantly more capital expenditure when hoping to get some minor "free" cooling.
- adrianN 4y ago
  Joey Hess built one: https://joeyh.name/offgrid/fridge/ https://joeyh.name/offgrid/fridge/

Rebelgecko 4y ago

It's sounds like this IS (mostly) a case of charging the bike "off the grid". If the trickle charging changes the usability of the bike from "charge it every 2-3 days" to "only charge it when there's multiple cloudy days in a row", that's a huge step up in convenience.

ilyt 4y ago
The problem is that the way it was done looks pretty inconvenient with panel being high up and potentially in the way

renewiltord 4y ago

Hobby DIY is a fun thing for many people to try. But spending all your time online is often more important than building.