A couple of peeps on the EV forums have been discussing using hub motors in a trailer with batteries and solar. This dude crossed the (edit
Canning Stock Route on a fatbike with a solar trailer:
https://rideonmagazine.com.au/ebiking-the-outback/
Yep, Peter Foot’s efforts, in the extreme show it is quite possible to run a solar panel hooked up to an ebike and travel great distances.
On pavement, a commuter ebike pedal assist is in about the 8wh/km range with about a 25km/h average speed. These numbers are battery energy output numbers
(I’m getting about 12-14 Wh/km on the turbo levo on single track by a river for an average speed of 28km/h)
8 x 25 = 200Wh
We now have solar panels in the 22-23% efficiency range. Let’s assume we are in the centre of Australia like Peter Foot. Let’s assume no batteries for energy storage. We have about 1000 watts a square meter of solar irradiance in the usable spectrum for our solar panels at noon in summer. Let’s assume we have an 85% conversion efficiency because we need an inverter to regulate our solar panels output for our 62v bafang hub drive motor, but if we are serious, later let’s match pv and motor voltages for efficiency gains.
200/0.85=235wh
We need about 235 wh from our panel, which equates to 1.06m sq of PV to propel our flat bar commuter ebike at high noon in the centre of the country.
Jinko’s JKM450M-6TL4 panel is just over 2m sq and is 24kg with approx peak output of 440wh, and it’s $289 aud.
Numbers fundamentally work.