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[HotRodHoose]

Ok guys, I wanted to run this by you guys in case someone else has done this already, I am thinking of adding a solar panel to my rear fender to allow for some recharge while its sitting in the sun.  What do you guys think?

[Bogan]

depends how sunny the area where you are is, though typically power generated from solar panels is pretty minimal it wud be easy enough to calculate how much charge you would gain from doing this, do you have a solar panel in mind?

[HotRodHoose]

I do not have one in mind yet but I was thinking about getting one of those "roll" style ones, they are more efficient than the panels and are a lot cheaper.  I work at a motorcycle dealership, so when I am at work I would let it sit out in the sun.  Every little bit helps on electric vehicles.  Anyway I wanted to share my newest addition to the project:  I just got an email today and I will be using a hub center steering for the front instead of forks!!!  YAY!

[Bogan]

another thing to keep in mind with the solar is the voltage, as it will probably need another voltage converter to charge the batteries from it

HCS, sounds pretty flash, no more brake dive for you im intrested to see if all the steering linkages needed will effect the feel of the bike, have you rode one with HCS before?

this sounds like a pretty interesting build, you should make a topic dedicated to it in homebrew if you get a chance

[picasso]

The amount of solar you could add to the bike wont help it but for .001 miles in full sun all day. If you use it just to charge say a small 12volt batt for the lights I think that is fine.

As for the lead acid part, for a school project I think it would be more fun and show of skill to make up you own pack from many of the cells on the market.

I think you should also go above 48, 58 as the min to get the speed you want.

[Bogan]

breif look on wikipedia reckon u get 1000W of sun energy per square meter, with a conversion rate of 20% this is 200W of electrical energy per square meter, assuming 200x400 rear fender gives 0.08 square meter, or 16W, so for a full days charge you would get about 0.13kWhr, which should give around 2.5km travel. You might want to check the wattage generated by the solar cell though, sounds kinda high

[HotRodHoose]

Yeah if its going to be that low then i would rather just build a solar charging station after I graduate. As for the batteries, I have no clue how to build a battery from cells, never even considered it so I don't even know where to start.  I have not yet ridden on a HCS but I work at a motorcycle dealership and our Open House is May 16th and one of our parts reps has a custom build with HCS and he is bringing it to let me ride it, its the tessi version of the HCS so its a little different than what I am getting.  I will have to check out the home brew section.  Thanks a lot guys with all the help.

[NewAge]

After reading this thread I would recommend one mars motor and a lithium battery pack (lead acid is just not practical for the 23 mile range requirement) and I would skip regen or solar. check out these batteries, they are expensive but provide good performance and a long service life http://www.electricmotorsport.com/store/ems_ev_parts_batteries_thunder_sky.php and one of these to monitor the battery array would also be worth the investment http://www.paktrakr.com/index.html

[HotRodHoose]

I actually was looking into them batteries, since I am giving up on solar I do have some extra money to spend so I may look into lithium batteries.  Thanks for the websites and input.

[HotRodHoose]

I am going to stick with 2 motors, just because I want to be different, and run a comparisons between 1 and 2 motors after the initial set up is complete so I have some comparison to talk about while I write my senior paper.  The question I have about the motor set up is about the controllers.  Is there a controller that can handle 2 motors or do I have to buy 2 controllers?  Thanks a lot.

[Bogan]

if the motors are the same (and DC) you could probably just wire them in parallel and use a single controller

[HotRodHoose]

Yes I am running the same motors both DC.

[Bogan]

then yeh, just get a controller that can supply double the current needed for a single motor and you should be fine, you will probly want to check it with the manufacturer just in case it voids the warranty though

[HotRodHoose]

Ok, thanks.  So I am checking current of the motors, since the motors will be 36v at first and then 72v after i switch to parallel do I need to find a controller that will do 36-72v or if I get a controller that does 72v to like 144v will that work or not?

[Bogan]

just run them parralell the whole time, you wont have to worry about a big switch that way, and itll give smoother acceleration, so get a 72 volt or higher PWM controller