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I had a buddy who built a solar e-bike for Burning Man; it had a sort-of roof on top, so it had room for something like four of those flexible 100 watt solar pa

I had a buddy who built a solar e-bike for Burning Man; it had a sort-of roof on top, so it had room for something like four of those flexible 100 watt solar panels[1]. He told me his biggest build-regret was the solar panels. Mounting the solar panels on the bike makes everything much more complicated—which means it's more expensive and more delicate. And even if it doesn't shake itself apart, you're constantly thinking about where and how you're parking it. The right solution for solar powered biking is to keep the solar panels off the bike, fixed in place, facing the right direction. Then you can use lots of cheap, heavy panels, and just plug the damn bike in when you get home. [1] for example: https://www.amazon.com/Flexible-Monocrystalline-Bendable-Semi-Flexible-Off-Grid/dp/B07TDK1KPF https://www.amazon.com/Flexible-Monocrystalline-Bendable-Sem...

throwaway5959 4y ago
Exactly, have the heavy, cheap panels charge a battery bank and plug into that when you get home. Still off grid, charge any time.
- PartiallyTyped 4y ago
  The mileage lost due to carrying an additional bank gets covered by the additional bank, is this correct?
- bluGill 4y ago
  Unless you are going someplace for a few days that you cannot get home from on your charge. Then you need the charger with you.
rahimnathwani 4y ago
Unless you're off the grid, is there any use case for the solar panel you linked? It costs $90, not including the protection circuitry. Even if you pay a lot for electricity (e.g. $0.35 per kWh, like in PG&E service regions), you'd need to be drawing 100W for 7 hours per day, for 365 days, before you break even. I guess realistically you're more likely to break even after 2 years? Do these small panels 'wear out' over time, or will they work for several years?
- sweetjuly 4y ago
  Solar panels don't really wear out like that. It's possible that severe hail may damage these flexible, less well protected cells but you can easily expect well over a decade out of them. Most residential systems are rated for 25-30 years but can realistically last longer.
  - adrianN 4y ago
    Most residential systems have a warranty for 25 years. The manufacturer guarantees that there is no significant degradation for that time. That probably means that they last a lot longer than that.
    - dsfyu404ed 4y ago
      Or it means they enter the steep part of the bathtub curve at 26yr
      - themitigating 4y ago
        Wouldn't it be smarter to have a warranty period end further from a significant increase in the probability of failure?
- jack_pp 4y ago
  Well if you break even even in 2 years that's still a great investment, beats most other investments out there and there is very little risk
- Tade0 4y ago
  Ultimately it's a semiconductor, so it's affected by the same aging processes that transistors and LEDs undergo. Actually, LEDs and solar cells are physically the same component, just designed for opposite use cases - much like motors and generators. You can reasonably expect it to lose less than 1% of original efficiency a year, so they should last decades.
  - 4y ago
m3affan 4y ago
What were the costs?
prmoustache 4y ago
That rad power bike in the article is already quite shitty with the high cargo position compared to a more sensible approach to put cargo in a front bed. This bike seems to have been designed to carry kids at the bike, not haul stuff.
- scosman 4y ago
  That's a bit negative. Like you say, better at carrying kids than stuff (which is how I use mine), but that doesn't make it "quite shitty". I own this bike: it's very good at carrying kids, pretty good at carrying stuff, and exceptionally good value. Rad has been shrinking the back wheel to lower cargo position as iterations progress, which is nice.
- foxyv 4y ago
  They make a front rack for it as well. But it isn't a bakfiets. But it's also about 1/4 the price. I've owned a RadCity before and it wasn't shitty at all. The dang thing is still running after 7k miles of rough treatment and crashes. The only problem I really had is with the spoke pattern on the drive wheels. They used way too thick spokes that didn't like being bent at such a sharp angle.
TheDesolate0 4y ago
[dead]

throwaway5959 4y ago

Exactly, have the heavy, cheap panels charge a battery bank and plug into that when you get home. Still off grid, charge any time.

PartiallyTyped 4y ago
The mileage lost due to carrying an additional bank gets covered by the additional bank, is this correct?
bluGill 4y ago
Unless you are going someplace for a few days that you cannot get home from on your charge. Then you need the charger with you.

rahimnathwani 4y ago

Unless you're off the grid, is there any use case for the solar panel you linked? It costs $90, not including the protection circuitry. Even if you pay a lot for electricity (e.g. $0.35 per kWh, like in PG&E service regions), you'd need to be drawing 100W for 7 hours per day, for 365 days, before you break even. I guess realistically you're more likely to break even after 2 years? Do these small panels 'wear out' over time, or will they work for several years?

sweetjuly 4y ago
Solar panels don't really wear out like that. It's possible that severe hail may damage these flexible, less well protected cells but you can easily expect well over a decade out of them. Most residential systems are rated for 25-30 years but can realistically last longer.
- adrianN 4y ago
  Most residential systems have a warranty for 25 years. The manufacturer guarantees that there is no significant degradation for that time. That probably means that they last a lot longer than that.
  - dsfyu404ed 4y ago
    Or it means they enter the steep part of the bathtub curve at 26yr
    - themitigating 4y ago
      Wouldn't it be smarter to have a warranty period end further from a significant increase in the probability of failure?
jack_pp 4y ago
Well if you break even even in 2 years that's still a great investment, beats most other investments out there and there is very little risk
Tade0 4y ago
Ultimately it's a semiconductor, so it's affected by the same aging processes that transistors and LEDs undergo. Actually, LEDs and solar cells are physically the same component, just designed for opposite use cases - much like motors and generators. You can reasonably expect it to lose less than 1% of original efficiency a year, so they should last decades.
- 4y ago

m3affan 4y ago

What were the costs?

prmoustache 4y ago

That rad power bike in the article is already quite shitty with the high cargo position compared to a more sensible approach to put cargo in a front bed. This bike seems to have been designed to carry kids at the bike, not haul stuff.

scosman 4y ago
That's a bit negative. Like you say, better at carrying kids than stuff (which is how I use mine), but that doesn't make it "quite shitty". I own this bike: it's very good at carrying kids, pretty good at carrying stuff, and exceptionally good value. Rad has been shrinking the back wheel to lower cargo position as iterations progress, which is nice.
foxyv 4y ago
They make a front rack for it as well. But it isn't a bakfiets. But it's also about 1/4 the price. I've owned a RadCity before and it wasn't shitty at all. The dang thing is still running after 7k miles of rough treatment and crashes. The only problem I really had is with the spoke pattern on the drive wheels. They used way too thick spokes that didn't like being bent at such a sharp angle.

TheDesolate0 4y ago

[dead]