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[DerKrawallkeks]

Hey,
I thought some people might be interested.



I recently bought some solar panels for cheap (160€ total).
To charge my Zero, I connected them in series, since their maximum-power Voltage is 29V each. This way, they run very close to their maximum power point.





There is no need for a charge controller, just some diodes prevent current from flowing back into the panels.
A 5V source with a 10kohm resistor is used to keep the main contactor closed via the aux pin of the aux charge port.

Just for fun, I made a little current tracker, which tells me the current and total kWh via bluetooth.

The installation runs at about 600-700W in direct sunlight, creating just over 2kWh in 4 hours, which equals about 30km on my Zero S.




And here's a video of it:

Don't try this at home!
Feel free to ask questions!

DerKrawallkeks

[victor6.7y]

Whahaha This is awesome !!

I asume it would work better with MPPT's but tis is alreaddy fun 

[TEV]

Now you just have to mount them on the bike 

[Crissa]

That's running hot

-Crissa

[DerKrawallkeks]

Sure, mppt would be better, but when there's good sun, it's actually right at mpp, and that's where 90% of energy is made here. As soon as there's even a little bit of shade, power drops a lot.

[Curt]

Brilliant. That is a great project! Very satisfying.

I had to look up MPPTs and learned something good.

[victor6.7y]

Sure, mppt would be better, but when there's good sun, it's actually right at mpp, and that's where 90% of energy is made here. As soon as there's even a little bit of shade, power drops a lot.

Oh cool, so you did take it into account. We have a lot of clouds in my area, so a solar panal without mppt is simply quite a bad idea.

Will there be a next step in this project?
A battery to charge while you are on the road? 

[DerKrawallkeks]

@Curt
Thanks;) I like it also, it's a lot of fun watching the numbers go up.

@victor Yes, when I saw mppV = 29V is when I first got the idea to even do this! To be honest, the place of the panels is pretty bad, they only get full sun for 4 hours a day, but there's no other place. These panels have a open circuit voltage of 37V though, so it charges just fine even with no direct sun:)

[Starpower]

Grid tie those panels and store the power with your utility. This way they continue to contribute even when the Zero is fully charged and can potentially provide all of your charging needs when taking back from the utility as needed. This may also allow a sunnier placement (maybe roof top) that does not need to be close to the bike.

As a solar advocate and 100% solar charging guy I have a hard time seeing solar panels sitting around doing nothing!

Nice job however!!

[DonTom]

I recently bought some solar panels for cheap (160€ total). To charge my Zero, I connected them in series, since their maximum-power Voltage is 29V each. This way, they run very close to their maximum power point.

Do you really have a need to charge from solar, or was this just an experiment?

-Don-  Reno, NV

[DerKrawallkeks]

@starpower
I agree, hurts to see them badly used or unused.
Thing is, I bought them out of a trailer, so it's a much better than before. Grid tie is good, having them on a better place is good. The problem is: I don't have an inverter (and don't want one for now:) and I don't have any other place to put them, since I'll move soon and there's no way to mount them on the roof.

@DonTom it's just an experiment. There's a good grid here, I charge normal as well