Originally Posted by HPL

Hear, Hear! nfmisso,

I come from an Electrical/mechanical eng. background, and no one's paying for my professional knowledge although often asking for.

Main note: I rode a solar charged bike not too long ago; made by a Univ. of FLA engineering student and very prototypical. All wiring and electronic components were just kind of thrown on the frame with whatever held (hose clamps, duct tape, zip ties, etc.). This system had a "folding" solar panel (essentially the size of a lap top computer when folded/closed) which provided charging to a lead battery pack. The actual design was okay, but it needed refinement; and unfortunately this individual knew nothing about cycling in general and installed this contraption on an ex-Ebike that would kill the normal person to pedal under their own power, very heavy and poor handling, wrong gear ratio, and add to that the fact that the battery pack was located up high nearly saddle high right behind it and the solar panel was on a rear rack behind the battery. All this caused the bike to be very difficult to handle due to the high center of gravity with a bike that already was poorly designed for its original function (it would fall over with the kickstand down unless on nearly level ground; one fall and it's dead!). the bike travelled at 20 plus mph, with about a 20 mile range given average rider weight. $500 for the whole thing, but I passed due to needing to fit to another frame which at the time I didn't have; otherwise I'd have mounted if possible to a light touring frame to vastly increase the efficiency just due to the substantial weight loss. If I were to design this type of system I'd probably design a frame first to account for mounting location, weight distribution, center of gravity, etc. It would be very interesting to see what a unit of similar performance would get for range on a typical lightweight racer around 20-22 lbs considering you're adding that much weight or more with the motor, battery, and solar/charging components. It would provide trickle charging (manual selection of this function) during operation if sunny out, so extended range during daylight hours which I thought was a great design feature. I'm kicking around thoughts ever since I saw /rode it, but I don't see myself on an Ebike except for commuting (I work midnights and travel 40 miles to work so no go there!), or I'm just too shot physically to do the pedaling anymore (which is getting closer by the minute!).