Anyone look into solar power?

[cmonkey]

Is solar power anywhere near the weight and ability to charge a segway in the field? (if price wasn't a factor)... or am I just wishing??? Since most of the PV panels I've seen only produce 12 volts, i'd have to use an inverter.
.. any ideas?

I think it'd be neat to go out in the field, and time/weather permitting, open up an umbrella of solar cells and top off.

Dave
( i did find a site that priced PV at just under $4/watt)


I love my magic carpet!

[rethin]

quote:Originally posted by cmonkey
Anyone look into solar power?


Its dangerous to look at the sun.

<ducks>

Rethin

[dgbint]

Hi Dave

Not quite.
Most solar panels produce a few watts ( maybe a few 10's of watts ).

A Segway would require probably 100 watts ( or even a few hundred ) to get close to useful charging.

So solar is under-rated by about 10x.
Thats just the raw power spec, without conditioning / inverter efficiency allowances.

Michael

[pam]

I think someone once posted it would require panels that are so extensive (big) as to make it unfeasible for the HT.
Pam

[adobephile]

I was contemplating the use of an inverter in the car to charge the Segway while driving. I don't remember where I found the reference but the power requirement for such an inverter (which would run on 12V DC) is 300W and it recommended that the inverter be wired directly to the battery.



"The job of art is to chase ugliness away."
Bono, U2.
From a personal appearance
at an Apple Computer music event.
October 26, 2004

Daniel Swanson
http://www.van-garde.com

[cmonkey]

ha-ha look into sun....

I was just looking for more fun ways to tinker with my seg, and I ran across this.

http://www.icpsolar.com/ssfamille.php3?id_rubrique=56

Based on Segway's site, (search for inverter) I picked up an inverter that was rated for 160w continuous output and could handle spikes of 300w.

I figured I'd probably have to get the 225w version of the solar panels (above), but with a weight of 66lbs.... well, I don't think an umbrella would hold it. I just hope I can find a solution that weighs just a bit less.

Dave

I love my magic carpet!

[KSagal]

You could tow a 4 foot by 8 foot trailer, with a bed made from solar pannels, and when you stop, it could recharge you in as little as 4 to six hours of direct sunlight.

I could set you up with the whole package for about $ 8 to 10 thou.

Of course the trailer would have to be custom made, and would have a tendency to reduce your range, and make it difficult to go indoors...

You would surely have the only one, if that is a value to you...



Karl Ian Sagal

Each road you travel should be just a bit better for having had you pass.

[KSagal]

By the way, I do have auxiliery lighting, and have had an entire 12v circuit on my seg for some time. Many people have seen it and photo's are posted elsewhere on these threads...(How cold do you ride) I think is the latest one....

Anyway, I carry an inverter for emergencies, and have found that although the 400w inverter is plenty to power the charger, it draws quite a bit of juice from the battery to power itself, and to invert. My problem was that my 5ah battery was not strong enough to power the inverter. (It could, but the input amperage was too low.) I don't have that problem any more, because I now use Tesler like coils on my seg, and they draw so much juice that I upgraded to a 12ah system...

The reason that I mention all this is that a 300 or 400 watt inverter is going to draw a great deal more power than that to have that as an output. The solar power input to the inverter will have to be substancially more than what we have been talking about...

The other issue to solar power is that you cannot reasonably charge while gliding, so you must devote a great deal of time to solar charging while not riding...

It might be more efficient to build an off seg charger, and glide while charging the "B" batteries, then swap batteries. If you really want to get into it...

Karl Ian Sagal

Each road you travel should be just a bit better for having had you pass.