Solar rickshaw project Spain

[MakeBCN]

Hey all new in here,

just recently got into the solar game when we bought our RV about a year ago.Its powered by just one 80 w flat panel. Though winter energy is low and inadequate to properly fulfill the girlfriends sound system desires. We have just purchased 2 semi flex 60w anels to upgrade our power needs/desires.

Which led us to the question of where to mount them for maximum input power. So we have a legal rickshaw interest here in spain and thought it mightbe agood idea to mount these light panels and use it to power a sound system and lights and connect to the house battery when they are parked. Dont have much idea about mobile solar energy but i do about building custom trikes. Hoping to get some ideas and input fro here. Also like to know if any of you have experiencewith mobile off grid solar systems?
Cheers,
Make

[MakeBCN]

Hell yeah!!! The semi flex panels have been delievered today. They seem as awesome as i thought they would be. So thin and light with a nice finish. Corners could be rounded and the flex is minimal on the 60w panel but enough for a sweet little curve. Man, they are light compared to a glass panel! Will test them tomorrow when then sun is out.

Anyone have experience with these semis? Seems to me just trolling in this forum that these semis are quite new tech and there isnt much feedback over the long term?

As far as our project goes, it seems that these were made for our rickshaws. Weight savings on the panels could mean more battery storage. This also seem to make an awesome shade canopy. Dam! Im excited! My first solar project.

So far so good, keep you posted,

make

[MakeBCN]

Learned alot reading that thread on the solar canoe. Seems like a similar mobile solar project. Will follow that.

I do have aspirations of making this into a solar powered rickshaw with an electric hub motor, though everything about current battery technology turns me off. Though, i have recently come across some idea about using super capacitors for high output short term energy boosts to power the shaws up hills and using the panels to quickly recharge the capacitors. Dont really know what "quickly" means yet but willing to experiment. Anyone have any idea about super caps?
Make

[Sunny Solar]

Isee one or two small problems with your wanting to use super caps to provide power to "get the rickshaw up hills" .
Firstly you have in theory 120w of solar panel..that connected to a rickshaw wheel would be about enough to turn the wheels provided the rickshaw is lifted off the ground.
secondly you would need about $20,000 worth of supercaps and 2 more rickshaws to carry them plus another 10 rickshaws in tandem with solar panels on the roofs to charge them..

HMM that's a few of your problems.

[MakeBCN]

Isee one or two small problems with your wanting to use super caps to provide power to "get the rickshaw up hills" .
Firstly you have in theory 120w of solar panel..that connected to a rickshaw wheel would be about enough to turn the wheels provided the rickshaw is lifted off the ground.
secondly you would need about $20,000 worth of supercaps and 2 more rickshaws to carry them plus another 10 rickshaws in tandem with solar panels on the roofs to charge them..

HMM that's a few of your problems.

yeah thanks Mr. Sunny,
hey i'm not in fantasy world that i will be able to power our shaws solely on the power of the sun but I'm ABSOLUTELY sure it will help. To what degree , i dont know and neither do you man. and what is $20kin euro money anyways ? about 20 bucks here. haha. Also, my question was related to people who have experience with super caps, and using them in a capacity that i am using it, can you tell me about your experience with super caps in a mobile solar capacity? I still have lots to learn. cheers
make

[MakeBCN]

Oh Yeah! just installed one panel. getting massive input power compared to our flat panel. Just on our flex panel we are powering everything we couldnt before. Wow!!! getting our solar regs this week so we can hook them up to the shaws. not quite portable yet , but getting closer
make

[russ]

what is $20kin euro money anyways ? about 20 bucks here. 15,000 Euros more or less

haha. Also, my question was related to people who have experience with super caps, and using them in a capacity that i am using it, can you tell me about your experience with super caps in a mobile solar capacity.

John has worked with them - that is where his ball park numbers come from - the idea is DOA.

[MakeBCN]

Hey Russ,
thanks for your input, but i still see that even if i could get myself a 1% power boost that it would be worth it? With the rest of the solar advantages, like our sound system, lights and recharges for phones and tablets. I only mentioned my future aspiration of solar powered movement but thats not even the current project which has not received one response. It seems that you guys are trying to pick holes on something that i'm not even working on. Though, i would appreciate some input on the current project.
Cheers,
Make

[Sunny Solar]

Make BCN I have been playing with super caps before they were commercially available..Almost 8 yrs ago. We have our new bank now of supercaps 100,000 farad at 12v.. at a cost of over half a million dollars.. yes thats the cost and tell you for sure .even that pallet load of caps wont get a vehicle far. and to recharge them takes a 415v 30a charger. not exactly something you carry using a big long extension lead or a bus covered with solar panels.

I had hopes we could build something useful to show the world also.. And my budget to do that far exceeds yours and the facilities to do it...

But have to admit they are the most fun toy you can own.. it never ceases to amaze us how much damage can be done to an engine block when the caps are fully charged and discharged through a 1" dia copper rod into the block. It instantly melts about 4" of the rod. It has great wow factor.

And something else you may already know but maybe not. the caps lose about 20% of capacity in first 6 months of use.. Something that is a problem when working out what size bank you need of them. After that they settle down and output remains close to constant.

The above is some of the reasons you don't see to many supercap powered cars in your neighborhood.

[russ]

Hey Russ,
thanks for your input, but i still see that even if i could get myself a 1% power boost that it would be worth it? With the rest of the solar advantages, like our sound system, lights and recharges for phones and tablets. I only mentioned my future aspiration of solar powered movement but thats not even the current project which has not received one response. It seems that you guys are trying to pick holes on something that i'm not even working on. Though, i would appreciate some input on the current project.
Cheers,
Make

We are trying to tell you that 1) solar is generally not green - the only thing that even comes close is grid tie. 2) Solar powered vehicles, other than the university shows, are a pie in the sky concept at present. No one is even close unless they have a large fixed array at home to charge a battery bank and then charge the car - again nothing green about it.

Your 1% would be the brownest or blackest 1% you can imagine.

[MakeBCN]

Hey thanks Sunny,

my research which is very VERY minimal compared to yours was based on on a youtube video that i saw recently that went viral on a guy that starts his car on a pack of super caps. He even used a folding array of panels to recharge his caps in minutes, in seconds with his car alternator. Have you seen this video? Remember i will still be using pedal power to get the shaws up hills but just need a little boost sometimes. My legs are like tree trunks, haha, they dont need much help, but the gf needs more help. But please tell me what you think about my current project?
make

[MakeBCN]

Hey thanks Sunny,

my research which is very VERY minimal compared to yours was based on on a youtube video that i saw recently that went viral on a guy that starts his car on a pack of super caps. He even used a folding array of panels to recharge his caps in minutes, in seconds with his car alternator. Have you seen this video? Remember i will still be using pedal power to get the shaws up hills but just need a little boost sometimes. My legs are like tree trunks, haha, they dont need much help, but the gf needs more help. But please tell me what you think about my current project?
make

[Sunny Solar]

used to start a car would work. but expensive compared to using a FLA battery. In that situation they are being fully discharged at their full rate of discharge... Its much much harder to use them in a slow discharge manner. We had engineers working on this for weeks and so have many major car manufacturers. Super caps are just not the go it seems if slow discharge is what you need.
If you want to power the rickshaw the best bet for lightness and suitability, except for cost is Lithium ion phosphate cells.But there is no way you could recharge them with solar panels on a vehicle.

Remember that guy charging the caps was probably putting 60a at 12v into them that's 720w . You would need 1000 w of panels to do same. sitting panels on the ground facing the sun is easy to get max output on a vehicle impossible.. Well unless you going to use a dual axis panel rotator and never drive close past buildings.

This is the best advice I can give you.. FORGET SUPER CAPS. ANYTHING else that can hold a charge is cheaper and better.

[MakeBCN]

We are trying to tell you that 1) solar is generally not green - the only thing that even comes close is grid tie. 2) Solar powered vehicles, other than the university shows, are a pie in the sky concept at present. No one is even close unless they have a large fixed array at home to charge a battery bank and then charge the car - again nothing green about it.

Your 1% would be the brownest or blackest 1% you can imagine.

Hey russ,
who's talking about GREEN? I dont give a crap that 1% comes out crap color, i'm not a green hippy. And can we get back to the original project? I'm not even close with solar powered shaw to prove you guys wrong, haha... but hey, isnt a fun solar idea?
make

[MakeBCN]

Hey thanks Sunny,

my research which is very VERY minimal compared to yours was based on on a youtube video that i saw recently that went viral on a guy that starts his car on a pack of super caps. He even used a folding array of panels to recharge his caps in minutes, in seconds with his car alternator. Have you seen this video? Remember i will still be using pedal power to get the shaws up hills but just need a little boost sometimes. My legs are like tree trunks, haha, they dont need much help, but the gf needs more help. But please tell me what you think about my current project?
make

used to start a car would work. but expensive compared to using a FLA battery. In that situation they are being fully discharged at their full rate of discharge... Its much much harder to use them in a slow discharge manner. We had engineers working on this for weeks and so have many major car manufacturers. Super caps are just not the go it seems if slow discharge is what you need.
If you want to power the rickshaw the best bet for lightness and suitability, except for cost is Lithium ion phosphate cells.But there is no way you could recharge them with solar panels on a vehicle.

Remember that guy charging the caps was probably putting 60a at 12v into them that's 720w . You would need 1000 w of panels to do same. sitting panels on the ground facing the sun is easy to get max output on a vehicle impossible.. Well unless you going to use a dual axis panel rotator and never drive close past buildings.

This is the best advice I can give you.. FORGET SUPER CAPS. ANYTHING else that can hold a charge is cheaper and better.

Thanks Sunny man, i need advise like that. Though can you let me know if these super caps can work in under 30sec bursts? Thats all i need. Not long sustained power.
make