Design of Solar powered electric bicycle

ABSTRACT

We all grasp that the fuel price and pollution due to general vehicles in railway line cities
and concrete areas is increasing day by day. to beat these problems, alternatives ways unit
being developed. The star motor-assisted bicycle developed is driven by BLDC motor fitted
before shaft and is operated by energy. The star panels placed on the bicycle will charge
the battery that any drives the BLDC hub motor. once the bicycle is not in use, the batteries
get charged pattern the star power; collectively, batteries can also be charged using a wall
charger. This model is being designed therefore on beat few problems associated with
previous models. Few problems from previous models unit corrected throughout this
paradigm and required tests unit disbursed.

Keywords: “Solar Panels, Bicycle, Hub Motor, Motor controller, Batteries

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Design of Solar powered electric bicycle

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

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Design of Solar powered electric bicycle

TABLE OF CONTENT

S.NO TITLE PG.NO

1 LIST OF TABLES

2 LIST OF FIGURE

3 LIST OFSYMBOLS,ABBREVIATIONS AND

NOMENCLATURE

4 CHAPTERS

5 APPENDICES

6 REFERENCES

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Design of Solar powered electric bicycle

LIST OF TABLES
 Table 1: solar module rating
 Table 2: Specifications of Hub Motor
Table 3: Specifications of Battery

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Design of Solar powered electric bicycle

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Solar bicycle is intended to satisfy the current challenges of typical bikes and additionally
to cut back the pollution caused by typical bikes. The star electrical bicycle might not price
considerably a lot of energy to drive the star electrical bicycle, once not hopped-up, then a
standard bicycle. once there's no daylight or the batteries square measure empty the
bicycle ought to still be running. E-bikes would like giant and significant batteries to permit
riding long distances, as a result of the battery is charged just once reception. The star
bicycle approach is completely different. The PV panels have enough power and provides
the bicycle AN infinite vary. The battery is tiny, and saves weight. while not sun but, the
battery may be quick charged. The battery is going to be charged whereas the bicycle is
running.

1.1 OBJECTIVES

The objectives of the research work are stated as follows: -

 To develop a simple bicycle model and simulation for sizing of electric kit
components followed by selection of electric kit components.

 Propose of a simple control strategy for the plug-in hybrid electric bicycle suitable
for city driving conditions.

 iii) To develop a plug-in hybrid electric bicycle by converting available conventional

bicycle with a suitable motor and battery.

 To conduct testing and performance of electric kit and develop a prototype bicycle
followed by validation of the simulation results.
 To study the influence of all-electric range and driving cycle on battery energy and
power requirements with the convincing price.

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Design of Solar powered electric bicycle

1.2 PROBLEM DEFINITION

The main problem is to modelling, simulation and selections of components. The selection of
the components must be as per the calculation which costly. Formulation of the control
strategy and the development of the model is difficult task faced from the electric cycle.
Testing the electric kit and the model after the assembly if it does not work as per the
calculation then disassemble the components and reassemble in a proper manner. Testing
the motor hub and controller and also the comparison test results with simulation with other
electric bicycle production. These are the few reasons which is faced by the rider riding the
cycle: -
1)It's heavy, which makes it difficult to store and very difficult to pedal up a hill if
you run out of battery power
2)Short battery life and long charging time, should you buy a 10 Ah 36 V battery,
you are likely limited to around 50 km (36 mi)
3)Double the price of a standard bicycle

1.3 OUTCOMES OF THE PROJECT

 Electric bicycle over motorcycles, including electric motorcycles, electric cycle is safer
than the electric bike, and it produces no pollution no noise as compare to motorcycle.
Generally, we use motorcycle for the short distance that we can do in the electric
bicycle which is much safer and speed can be controlled during emergency.
 It can use the bicycle infrastructure, park in bicycle areas etc.
 It allows faster movement in congested downtown areas, in traffics.
 Electric bicycles has pedal if rider want to pedal and get exercise in time then they
can do that too.

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Design of Solar powered electric bicycle

CHAPTER 2

COMPONENTS

1 SOLAR PANELS

The title indicates that the bicycle is operated by solar power. star cells convert the energy
from the sun directly into electricity supported electrical phenomenon impact. The
electrical phenomenon impact involves the creation of a voltage supported the electrons
ejected by another light-weight impact known as physical phenomenon impact. cell works
on 2 effects particularly physical phenomenon and electrical phenomenon. In physical
phenomenon impact, electrons square measure liberated once light-weight rays fall on a
metal surface and these electrons square measure transferred to the valence and
conductivity band inflicting voltage between these electrodes attributable to the

Table 1: solar module rating

Parameter Value
Maximum Power (Watt) 100
Optimum Operating voltage 18.9V
Open Circuit Voltage Voc 22.5V
Optimum Operating Current (Imp) 5.29A
Short Circuit Current Isc 5.75A

2 HUB MOTOR

A traditional BLDC hub motor is employed to avoid brushes and additionally to cut back
their maintenance, saving price and time. that's the rationale why brushless motors
square measure typically a lot of economical than traditional DC motors. In BLDC motor
the roles of the coils square measure opposite compared to traditional DC motor: the
inner half having the coils is stationary and also the magnet rotates around this coil. The

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Design of Solar powered electric bicycle

electronic circuit induces power within the inner copper coils successively, creating the
outer body reel the copper coils. There square measure several little force field sensors
connected between a number of the coils. These sensors square measure called Hall-
effect sensors. once the outer magnet passes through the sensors, the sensors senses the
position of the north and south poles of the rotor so activates the specified coils for
continuous rotation. the most downside mistreatment this type of motor is that it needs
an extra electronic circuit for the motor rotation

THE HUB MOTOR

Parameter Corresponding factor/value

Type of Motor Hub motor

Design of Motor BLDC (Brushless DC)

Power Rating 500W

Rated Voltage 36
(V)
Weight(kg) 5
Efficiency (%) 80
Torque 12 N-m
Speed (rpm) 300
Table 2: Specifications of Hub Motor

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Design of Solar powered electric bicycle

3. LI-ION BATTERY

Battery plays an important role during this project. Energy may be generated from
completely different quite sources like star, wind, additionally from fossil fuels etc. and may
be hold on in some extra devices for continuous usage. Such a tool to store this type of
energy may be a battery. Battery may be a series arrangement of cells that generate
electricity by a method of Electro-chemical reaction. chemical science reaction happening
in secondary batteries is reversible. therefore these sorts of batteries may be charged and
discharged for few cycles and therefore they're named as reversible batteries. reversible
Li-ion batteries have sensible range of benefits in terms of highest specific energy, voltage
and negligibly little selfdischarge. For battery it's continually fascinating that the energy
delivered by it throughout its discharge amount ought to be as high as potential. The output
of battery is often captivated with the combining weight of active materials gift in it

Table 3: Specifications of Battery

Parameter Corresponding factor/value

Type Li-ion
Number three Batteries
Voltage 12 V
Expected cycle life 2000 times
Max. Continuous 15A
Discharge current
Max charge voltage 14.6 V
connected in series
Amp-Hour Rating 20 Ah
Discharge cutoff voltage 10 V

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Design of Solar powered electric bicycle

4. ACCELERATOR/THROTTLE

The maximum speed of the bicycle designed is 25kmph. it's needed to vary this speed from

0-25kmph reckoning on the road conditions and additionally on the traffic. therefore AN

accelerator is put in within the bicycle to vary the speed. Accelerator helps United States

of America to vary the speed from zero to most reckoning on our necessity. The throttle is

connected to the handle bar on its right aspect and is any connected to a motor controller.

The accelerator consists of 3 wires a black, red, and inexperienced typically. the provision

voltage is provided through the red and black wires and also the voltage provided to the

accelerator is mostly four volts. The voltage is inflated mistreatment the inexperienced

wire once the throttle is activated.

5. MOTOR CONTROLLER

The motor controller may be a terribly essential part needed for the continual operation of a
brushless DC motor. The motor controller consists of few sensors called the Hall impact
sensors that senses the north ANd south poles of the magnet within the motor and offers an
instruction to excite the specified coils. additionally a motor controller consists of electronic
circuits consisting of MOSFETS, transistors and microprocessors that square measure
required for the over and underneath voltage, over current protection of the motor

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Design of Solar powered electric bicycle

Table 4: Specifications of Motor Controller

Parameter Values
System voltage (V) 36
Rated current (A) 27
Under voltage protection (V) 31.5
Ambient temperature (ºC) 0-50

6. BOOST CONVERTOR

A transformer is put in in an exceedingly star bicycle and is mostly connected between the
star panels and also the battery. this is often as a result of the ability output of the solar
battery isn't continually constant and therefore such a system can not be connecting to
battery directly. therefore a transformer is employed between these elements therefore
on build the input of battery as constant. The transformer typically utilized in these quite
applications square measure typically a lift or a buck convertor. The transformer
continually feeds the battery with a relentless voltage as input. it's additionally accustomed
defend the system from over and underneath voltages.

Voltage output from solar battery = 12V

Voltage needed by the battery = 36V / one

needed duty cycle D = 2/3

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Design of Solar powered electric bicycle

CHAPTER 3
METHDOLOGY

Solar energy is captured from the sun using solar panels mounted on the rear end of the
bicycle. These panels are connected to a boost converter so as to boost the voltage to the
required level. The arrangement is further connected to a battery. The battery is charged
using this solar output as the entire power transfer is DC in this case. This battery is connected
to a DC motor. The battery can also be charged using a wall charger in case of absence of sun.
A brushless DC motor is preferred here because of no maintenance, high efficiency, and low
noise and also because of the absence of brushes we don’t find sparking in a BLDC motor. A
synchronized motor controller is used here for the working of the motor. Also a throttle is
used here to increase the speed of the cycle. This accelerator is also directly connected to the
motor controller which in turn controls the motor speed. The bicycle can also be run using
mechanical pedalling in the absence of sun or when the battery is drained out.

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Design of Solar powered electric bicycle

3.1 REQUIREMENT SPECIFICATION

1)Bicycle of cheap rate or an old cycle

2)Solar panel: -
 Maximum Power (Watt): -100
 Optimum Operating voltage: - 18.9v
 Open Circuit Voltage: - 22.5

3) Hub motor: -
 Type of motor: - Hub motor
 Power: - 500W
 Voltage: -48V
 Speed: - 300 or more rpm
 Weight: - 5kg
 Torque: - 12N-m

4) LI-ION battery: -
 Number: - four batteries
 Voltage: - 12 V
 Cycle life: - 2000 times
 Discharge current: - 15 A
 Charge voltage: - 14.6V
 Connection: - series
 AmH: - 20Ah

5)Acceleration/Throttle

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Design of Solar powered electric bicycle

6) Motor Controller: -
 System voltage: -48V

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Design of Solar powered electric bicycle

CHAPTER 3
SOLAR ENERGY
The power of the sun, if you are out in direct sunlight you feel your skin warming up and
anyone who has ever set foot into a car parked in direct sunlight knows the sauna like heat
that hits you when opening the door. The solar irradiance perpendicular towards the top of
earth's atmosphere also known as the solar constant. This is the sum of all incoming
electromagnetic radiation. The share of the solar constant that reaches the ground depends
on many factors. The atmosphere will reflect, absorb and scatter the irradiance based on its
chemical composition such as water vapour content, cloud coverage and number of aerosols.
Another factor is the inclination of incoming light; the lower the angle, the lower the
irradiance towards a surface. This is one of the reasons behind the relationship of decreased
incoming
light towards the ground with increased distance from the equator. A lower angle of the sun
relative to the ground also means that the light travels through a larger air-mass and thus the
light intensity decreases due to previous mentioned factors.
The measure of the radiation's total power is noted
irradiance and can be expressed in W/m and it is important to note that the surface may be
either horizontal, or inclined in a certain angle relative the incoming irradiance and also angle
will affect the amount of irradiance falling onto the surface. To analyse the irradiance in
further detail, it can be split up in three main components Direct, reflected and diffuse
irradiance.

3.1 Variability of solar irradiation

There are great variations in solar irradiations that must be acknowledged and

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Design of Solar powered electric bicycle
understood in order to analyse solar powered systems properly and in one second the
irradiance, if a thick cloud suddenly shades the sun. On a day-to-day basis, as exemplified in
the irradiation was 7.8 kWh/m the first day to drop to 4.3 kWh/m the next due to different
weather.

Not only weather affects the irradiation, but also the inclination towards the sun and the
average daily irradiation towards a horizontal surface for each month. As the city is located at
high latitude, the sun's inclination is low during winters and increasing during summers, there
is increase in irradiation thus follows a similar pattern.
Differences in weather patterns may also cause the long-term average irradiation to vary
according to monthly scale and also yearly. As the implication of the intermittency of the solar
energy is that some sort of buffering is necessary then the load does not match the irradiation
perfectly.

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Design of Solar powered electric bicycle
3.2 Solar cell
A typical crystalline silicon solar cell and the horizontal lines on the front help to minimise the
resistance and increases the efficiency and the vertical lines are used to connect cell to back.
A crystalline silicon solar cell has an open when fully irradiated and generates short-circuit
current proportional to the incoming irradiance and to get a useful voltage in a PV system,
several cells are thus connected in series and usually mounted in a rigid glass-framed panel
as exemplified. Further increase the voltage, several panels can be series connected and to
increase the current and they can be parallel connected in this way it is possible to configure
the amount of series and parallel connections to get a desired voltage and current.

To prevent current to flow in the wrong

direction, e.g. from a battery to a solar panel or from one panel to another in a parallel
configuration, a blocking diode is usually added on each panel and a diode works in such a
way that when it is forward biased it conducts and when a negative voltage is applied, it acts
like a circuit breaker. An example of operation is if an 18 V solar panel is connected to a 12 V
battery during the day, the voltage of the solar panel exceeds the voltage of the battery, and
current will thus flow into the battery and on the night however, the solar panel open voltage
will be 0 V and current will thus flow from the battery to the solar panel instead, not only
draining the battery but potentially also damaging the solar panel by adding a diode between
the panel and the battery, it is possible to prevent current to flow in the wrong direction night
time while still enabling battery charging daytime.

3.3 Electric bicycle

An Electric bicycle is narrowed down to its basic of a regular bicycle equipped
with an electrical motor, a battery and some electronics and switches that controls power

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Design of Solar powered electric bicycle
levels and it is powered by two energy sources, pedalling and electricity, it can be classified
as a hybrid vehicle. For an Electric bicycle has to fulfil a set of requirements according to the
law:
Electrical motor may only be active while pedalling.
Maximum rated power of motor: 250 W.
No motor power may be provided at speeds above 20-25 km/h.

An example of a commercially available Electric bicycle is shown in Figure. The motor is usually
placed in the rear wheel called hub motor but sometimes the crank shaft is mounted directly
on the wheel. The location of the battery may vary depending on cycle design but typically,
the producers try to place it as low as possible for an optimum centre of gravity and there is
also a control panel at the handle that is used to turn on and off the Electric bicycle function,
set different power level options and monitor the battery level which is very easy to do.

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3.3 Electric bicycle battery
A battery in an Electric bicycle should have capacity large enough to keep the range at a level
that meets the user's demand, but also meet technical requirements such as safety and be
able to supply enough power to the motor and there are a number of different battery
technologies on the market and that all of them use Lithium Ion batteries although this short
investigation makes no claim to be complete, it is safe to say that Li-ion batteries are a
common technology for Electric bicycle producers to use. It was found that a common battery
capacity is 10 Ah in a 36 V system and energy that is equal to about 360 W assuming that the
battery voltage does not change throughout the discharge cycle and that the State of Charge
may reach 0%. Li-ion batteries are in the upper range of energy density compared to other
technologies and they also last longer than other technologies. The energy density of
commercial Li-ion batteries is in the range of 100-250 W/kg whereas the cheaper alternative,
Lead Acid batteries, is around 30 W/kg but the drawback with Li-ion batteries is their high
initial cost, however, when taking a lifecycle cost perspective, they can still be cheaper than
e.g. Lead Acid batteries. The cost of battery replacement for an Electric bicycle. The charge
temperature of Li-ion batteries is about 0-45°C but it can discharge in the range of -20°C to
60°C but there is no charging should be permitted if the battery temperature is below 0°C as
this could damage the battery. In the window of 0° to about 5°C, it is necessary to decrease
the charge current but in another factor that is of importance for the choice of battery
technology is the performance during heavy discharge, such conditions can be riding steep
uphill or in strong headwind. A Lead Acid battery will for example lose a large share of its
rated energy capacity during heavy continuous discharge compared to low discharge rates
due to high internal loss Nickel Metal Hydride and Li-ion batteries on the other hand lose less
than 10% during similar conditions but Charging the battery requires a charger that monitors
the battery properly in order to avoid battery cell failure Li-ion batteries could for example
explode or catch fire if over-charged.

CHAPTER 4
FACTORS EFFECTING EFFICIENCY OF ELECTRIC CYCLE

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Design of Solar powered electric bicycle
Generally, a solar panel is connected to a battery by connecting the positive of the
panel to the positive terminal of the battery and similarly the negative. A battery can be
charged in such a simple manner but here comes a problem during night because of the
potential difference there is a chance of current flow from the battery to the panel. This
causes the battery to discharge to a particular level to avoid such kind of problem, a diode is
connected between the panel and the battery such that this diode acts as a one-way passage
from the panel to the battery and the power output from the solar panel depends on the
following Panel angle: The angle at which the sun hits the panels changes the amount of
exposure when the solar panels are mounted flat on the cycle and not faced to the sun, then
the power generated will be always lower than the rated amount in anyways the sunlight is
always diffused in the atmosphere which reduces this effect. Time of the day plays a kind of
important role on the power generated as the sun rays hitting a specific area is not the same
the entire day and the rays are stronger and maximum power can be obtained. Solar cell
reflection: The power generated will be reduced if the solar cell reflects high number of light
rays and a protective layer should be adopted on the top of the panel with a very low
reflective coefficient. Clouds: Clouds play a very major role on the bicycle motion; clear clouds
make the cycle efficient and It isn’t exaggeration that the bicycle cannot be used well during
cloudy days as the sun isn’t available at its best.

4.1 Shadow Effect in electric bicycle powered by solar

While placing panels on the bicycle shadow effect should be considered because if shadow
falls on the panel the amount of output power reduces to avoid this effect and to increase
the
efficiency, panels are placed on roof top in this project or on the handle.

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Design of Solar powered electric bicycle
4.2 Solar panel position in electric bicycle

Mounting Solar panels on roof top efficiency can be increased because shadow effect can
be reduced by this arrangement. Large solar surface area is possible and there are some
disadvantages with this type of arrangement like weight increases and also air drag may
increase but efficiency will not reduce.

4.3 Aerodynamic wind in Electric cycle

Wind directions play a key role in speed of bicycle if the wind is horizontal to the panels
then there will be no issue, but if cross winds occur then more power will be drawn from the
batteries.

4.4 Load on electric bicycle

Speed of the bicycle always depends on the load mounted on it if load on bicycle is within
the limit then efficiency will be good and If load exceeds the particular limit of the bicycle
then
motor draws more power from batteries due to which efficiency decreases.

Chapter 5
REGENERATIVE BRAKING

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Design of Solar powered electric bicycle

It is possible to utilise the same method for energy regeneration on Electric bicycle the main
strategy is to store energy that would be wasted as heat. When braking a vehicle with
regeneration, instead of using regular friction brakes, an electric motor is activated that acts
as a generator and supplies power to a battery it is possible to store energy when for example
stopping at traffic lights or going downhill. The amount of recoverable energy is however
questionable on Electric bicycle computed that the recoverable energy on an Electric bicycle
was about 1.7% of what was used. One reason for the low value can be differences in rider
characteristics of cyclist when we supply power of your own you get more energy efficient by
for example trying to glide towards a red light hoping for it to turn green in time another issue
can be that there is a difference in speed up and downhill for cyclists. A car usually has about
the same speed up and downhill to follow speed regulations when cycling however, people
are used to go slow uphill and fast downhill it may thus be the case that it is preferred to ride
in high speeds downhill and let the wind resistance act as one of the main braking forces
instead. In such case, there would be low energy available for regeneration and it is not
common to have regeneration on Electric bicycle today as it requires more complex motor
control as few Electric bicycle with regenerative braking are available on the market. However
assumed that Electric bicycle for a pool project will use friction brakes only.

5.1 Modelling an Electric bicycle

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Design of Solar powered electric bicycle

Three different system layouts have been studied; two ON-grid solutions
and one off-grid. the OFF-grid solution consists of solar panels, a buffer battery and one
charge controller for each Electric bicycle. The ON-grid solutions also include a DC/AC inverter
for connection to the grid and either a buffer battery or not some advantages and
disadvantages of the system layout options are presented. What also needs to be assumed
for energy calculations on an Electric bicycle, is how the trips are made in order to assess the
impact of the energy requirement, three different rider profiles were created the three
profiles are called tourist, casual rider and commuter. The tourist rider is assumed to ride in
a slow pace, have many stops and also stop for a longer time than the other two rider styles
the casual rider is assumed to be an inner city rider that uses the bicycle to move from point
A to B, but makes a stop to for example enter a food store on the way and finally, the
commuter rides at high speed and make few stops during the trip. The trip length was
assumed to be for all rider profiles the road was set to have three segments, each with a
different slope: 0.6 km at 6% slope, 2 km at 2% slope and 4 km at 0.5% slope. As per the speed
of the cycle the wind speed was set to 2 m/s headwind.

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Chapter 6

SOLAR ENEERGY AND WEATHER

This chapter has the graphs and data from the calculations on the solar panels.

Figure 1 and Figure 2 shows the yearly irradiation for different azimuth and tilt angles for a

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Design of Solar powered electric bicycle
Shadow free location. First thing that can be noticed in both graphs is that the yearly
irradiation is more dependent on the tilt angles than azimuth angle and also, the optimum
panel orientation differs between the cases for the shadow-free case, the maximum
irradiation can be found at 180° azimuth; south and a tilt around 40° the optimum can be
found more westwards around 200° azimuth and the same tilt this is due to bui1ding in the
east that shadows the morning sun, and catching the afternoon sun from the west is thus
more important. What also can be noted is that the maximum yearly irradiation has
decreased compared to the shadow-free case due to shading from nearby buildings due to
which the solar can be used properly.

ELECTRICAL ENEGRY YEILD VERSUS SHADOW FREE CASE OF AGRA

The electric energy yields are presented in Figure 17 and Figure 18. Note that they have been
computed hourly and not on the yearly data presented in Figure 15 and Figure 16. However,
the characteristic is more or less the same as for the irradiation.

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6.1 Electric bicycle electric energy use

The energy required from the battery (Wh/km) for different sets of speed wind speed and
slope. The colour notes the effort by the rider in each condition and the values are computed
for a 1:1 torque setting, meaning that the same amount of human and electric power is used
in each time instant. The remaining constants are noted below the table Missing values
indicate conditions where the calculated average motor power exceeds the limit (>250 W)
and is thus not possible to obtain for long periods of time. If that occurs, the rider would
simply lower the speed. It can be seen in Table 11 that the electric energy depending on the
external factors. Values between 3-18 Wh/km were computed but around 5-10 Wh/km can
be seen for typical cycling at high-speed. Note that these values a computed for constant
speed. Including accelerations would increase the energy provide from the battery. The
computed energy use from the rider profiles are shown in Table 10. The underlying
assumptions were high total mass (100 kg), 5 km trip length with different segments, energy
for full stops, etc.

7. Discussion
E-bikes are more than thirty times as energy efficient as cars (see Figure
29). As a transport mode they have great potential to decrease emissions
and congestion. They enable ride in high speed despite strong headwind
or hilly conditions where regular cyclists would decrease their speed
significantly. Due to the decreased human force needed for propulsion,

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longer rides are also easier making it an alternative to replace for example

car commuting. Combining E-bikes with bike pools also opens up

their use to a broader audience as the initial cost decreases. The
lack of ownership also means that the users do not have to worry
about getting their E-bike stolen or to pay for maintenance. E-bikes can also be a natural
extension to public transport. For commuters there might be a reduction in walking and
waiting time to or between public transport station. E-bike stations would also increase the
transport network size. Say that an E-bike station is placed at a bus station; the area covered
by 10 minutes of E-bike ride from that spot is about fifteen times as large as if the person
would walk as seen in Figure 28. Another benefit with E-bike station is that they can be
placed more closely to where people start and end their journeys, such as homes or
workplaces, than what is possible with for example tram and bus stations.
Figure 28. Area covered by
10 min on E-bike (20 km/h)
and walking (5 km/h.)

7.1 Weaknesses and uncertainties

This report is an exploratory study and hence contains a lot of assumptions that vary with
system design, location, etc. It should thus be noted that results might vary significantly
from a real-life E-bike pool. It has been tried throughout the calculations to have a good
safe margin to ensure that the drawn conclusions are valid even though the system has high
usage and long travel distances. In addition uncertain design parameters, there are a number
of other uncertainties that may have affected the results. The used solar irradiation data is
from two years only and is thus not representative of the long-term average irradiation.
There is also an uncertainty in the irradiation data itself, especially as Sweden is located in
the edge of the satellite's field of view. The data uncertainty is in the range of ±10%.
Furthermore, there is an uncertainty introduced due to the interpolation of irradiation during
some of the winter months. However, as the irradiation is low during that period, even

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Design of Solar powered electric bicycle
though the uncertainty might be high, the effect on yearly energy yield is low. The total
energy use during an E-bike trip is dependent on the rider's weight, the route chosen and
the wind. These will in turn be dependent on station locations and pricing which means
that the reality of an E-BSS will look different than the computed results.
A factor that has not been accounted for in the calculations is that the usage of the
E-bikes will vary with season and weather. It is likely that the use will be higher
during summertime than wintertime and that more people will use the bikes when the
weather is good. These user characteristics follows the solar irradiation well which could
lead to higher grid independency than presented in this report.
One assumption made during the calculations is that battery charging is possible at all time.
This will only be the case if battery heating of some sorts is implemented. It is also assumed
that the charging power is constant during the charging cycle which is not the case for an
actual Li-ion battery. The power electronics is assumed to have a MPPT function built in, this
is usually incorporated in grid-tie inverters but not in all charge controllers for off-grid
applications.
There are also two parts of the E-BSS that has been excluded in the calculations; the energy
use by the locks and the terminal. Locking can however be made energy efficient so that
power only is needed during the movement of the lock. The terminal has been excluded as it
may be designed in very various ways. From a low-power computer without monitor that lets
the user check out a bike via a phone application to a large monitor with a full-size computer.
If an E-BSS is being designed and the terminal and locking energy use is known it is however
easy to include. A rule-of-thumb for Gothenburg is that one square meter of solar panel can
supply about 23 W of power as the yearly average. As stated earlier, this report is exploratory
and contains many assumptions. However, due to the sensitivity analysis made the results
are
likely to be valid even though many parameters would change in reality.

7.2 The energy system

What has been shown is that placing solar panels on the stations' roofs can result in net
electric energy production from the stations to the grid with relatively small panel areas
A modal shift from for example car commuting or bus would therefore not

DEPARTMENT OF AUTOMOBILE ENGINEERING, NHCE

Design of Solar powered electric bicycle
only decrease the energy use and emissions, but potentially also lead to new generation of
electricity. If for example an E-BSS would-be built-in Gothenburg with the same size as the
current BSS, that could potentially save several hundred tonnes of CO
annually if the E-bike trips replaces some fossil fuel powered transport modes. In addition to
that, couple hundred MWh of solar energy would be fed to the grid.
Choosing to build an off-grid solution can be useful in some cases such as temporary
installations but is not seen as a viable large-scale system design. This is due to the fact that
for an off-grid system to be operating over a long period of time, it must be designed to
function the days with the lowest solar irradiation. The excess energy during days of high
solar irradiation is thus not utilised. Using an on-grid solution with solar panels and a buffer
battery seem as the best design. First and foremost, it makes it possible to design a system
where the grid energy exchange is minimised while still enable excess solar energy
production to be fed to the grid. A counter-argument towards placing solar panels in urban
environment is that more energy would be generated by placing them on a shadow-free
surface such as a rooftop nearby. Although that is true, a large share of the energy is still
available and several factors make it beneficial to keep the panels on the stations' roofs. First
and foremost, it enables origin marking of electricity and increased system efficiency, as the
electricity does not need to be converted to Alternating Current (AC) as often as an on-grid
system without a buffer battery would. A second reason is that if an E-bike station is going to
be built; placing a roof with solar panels over the docking spaces will not affect the area used.
Placing the solar panels elsewhere would thus mean that more area is needed. It might also
not be economically feasible to pay for a second piece of land. Lastly, placing solar panels in
an urban environment means that it is exposed to a lot of people every day. This is an
opportunity that can be seized and used to educate people on solar energy and energy
systems.
Monitors could be set up showing for example the instantaneous power and power balance
or
the daily energy yields. Another educational strategy could be to produce education material
towards school classes that can use online data to do labs. In order to get as low amount of
battery depletions as possible, a simple charging strategy
could be implemented. When a user wants to check out an E-bike, the bike with the most
charge is unlocked. To ensure that the user has sufficient charge for a ride — and that the

DEPARTMENT OF AUTOMOBILE ENGINEERING, NHCE

Design of Solar powered electric bicycle
battery is well maintained — there could also be a lower value of the battery level set where
the E-bike is kept locked until it has sufficient charge. Another method to decrease the
occurrences of depletions are to increase the charging current. In this report, 2 A was used
but
in reality it could be increased to e.g. 5 A. A problem regarding battery charging arises in cold
temperatures as Li-ion batteries should not be charged when the temperature is getting close
to zero degrees. One solution is to keep the batteries in a heated cabinet at the station. This
would not only allow safe charge during cold temperatures but could also supply fully
charged batteries at all times if there are more batteries than E-bikes in the system. It has
been
shown however that battery depletion on a grid-connected system without battery swapping
is
likely not a problem despite high use (10.8 trips/(E-bike & day)). The need for a battery
cabinet is thus not seen necessary from that perspective. A drawback with the cabinet
solution
is that the user must remember to take out the battery and mount it onto the E-bike and then
vice versa on each ride. An alternative solution to charging cold batteries is to have a heating
blanket built in the battery casing that would heat the battery using electric energy. The
charging would then start when the battery is warm enough. Both solutions require extra
input
of energy that has not been accounted for in the calculations in this report. The need for
battery heating is also dependent on the chosen season the pool should be operating. For full
year operation it was shown that heating will be needed approximately 30% of the time.

DEPARTMENT OF AUTOMOBILE ENGINEERING, NHCE

Design of Solar powered electric bicycle

DEPARTMENT OF AUTOMOBILE ENGINEERING, NHCE

Design of Solar powered electric bicycle

DEPARTMENT OF AUTOMOBILE ENGINEERING, NHCE

Design of Solar powered electric bicycle

DEPARTMENT OF AUTOMOBILE ENGINEERING, NHCE

Design of Solar powered electric bicycle

CHAPTER 9

CONCLUSION

DEPARTMENT OF AUTOMOBILE ENGINEERING, NHCE

Design of Solar powered electric bicycle

DEPARTMENT OF AUTOMOBILE ENGINEERING, NHCE

Design of Solar powered electric bicycle

DEPARTMENT OF AUTOMOBILE ENGINEERING, NHCE