Portable Small Scale Solar

[ghurd]

My wife is a nut.  Ain't we all.
She enjoys doing things like riding a bicycle 100 miles in under 6 hours.

So my wife decides it is a good idea to go on a week long bike trip.
Sleeping in a tent.
With Very limited access to grid power.

GOBA.
Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure.
http://www.goba.com/

And my wife is a techno junkie.
Her bicycle has a GPS.
She needs to "Tweet", which apparently somehow magically goes to facebook, which apparently somehow is important to her.
And take digital pics.
And live in a tent with no grid at hand.

Solution?
Solar.   Real small solar.
And charging a vast array of batteries as efficiently as possible.
And planning.  Lots of planning.
And simple.  (because she is not an electrician)
And cheap.  (because I am cheap, and the probability of breakage is high)

The 12V to device battery charger had to efficient.  That means switching regulators.
Thankfully, many rechargeable devices are now compatible with USB, and 12V to USB switching regulators are now available on ebay cheap.

The GPS is apparently intended to be charged with a USB power supply.  (the USB cord Garmin supplied with a GPS unit that cost more than a laptop was defective, resulting in many hours of testing stuff that worked, except the USB cord was faulty)

So is the camera battery charger.  The problem with the camera battery charger is all the important stuff is in the do-hicky that holds the camera battery.
However all this important stuff is perfectly content to work fine with a USB input.
The next problem is the camera battery charger has a detachable AC power cord / wall wart.
However the jack for the power cord matches perfectly with a Sony PSP game system, so my friend (the solder guy) loaned me a USB to PSP cord..

The fancy cell phone with a full keyboard and such (Razzle) naturally has some goofy input that RatShak wants $20 for a loose end that just snaps into that input hole.
4 days and $5 (with Free shipping) to ebay later, we get a 110V home charger and a 12V car charger.
Bonus!  She can keep the extra 110V phone charger at the office.

I found a new HF red $10 PV in the cellar.  They have a 12V car lighter plug output.

Had new 12V 7.2AH SLAs here, and soldered spring clips to the terminals to make it impossible for the connected alligator clamps to reach eavh other.

Made 3 heavy duty car lighter plugs into a pigtail with heavy duty alligator clips.

Any and every device is plugged into the pigtail, with the pigtail connected to the battery.

No device can possibly be connected backwards or incorrectly or into the wrong place, with the exception of the clips on the battery.
The battery is marked on its terminals and molded into the plastic with Red&Black and +&--.

The LED lights were made in house.
The lantern uses 3 Mega-LEDs.  The light output is smooth and consistent.
The black thing uses 2 Mega-LEDs driven twice as hard.  The light output is smooth, but intended to shine even and down, which is what I would want in my tent.
They both operate from 4 alkaline batteries that will not need replaced during a 7 day trip.

The little flashlight is a 2 LED thing about the size of a 9V connector.  There are several versions made by several companies.
I did not make that one, but instructions can be found on the internet.

She left a bit ago.  Too late to make any changes!
I will post what worked and what did not, somewhere around 28~29 June.
If I get any serious issues, I will try to post them as I find out what they are.


This is what I came up with.
It meets the requirements of low weight, cheap, easy, and simple, except for the lighting.
G-

[taylorp035]

That's pretty awesome   I am guessing everything is stored in a bag on her bike?

Question #2:  Isn't she riding during the day when it is sunny?  Or is the panel going to be mounted on the bike?

[ghurd]

GOBA takes the tent, sleeping bag, clothing, etc, to the next place they stay that night.
Meaning she does not carry much stuff on the bike.

Sundown there is around 9PM this time of year.
The riders have to be into the day's camp site by ~4PM.  She should be there by about 1PM most days.

She understands the 1st priority is getting the PV charging the battery.
Manual tracking should provide about 400mAH at 12V per day.

The phone can go 2~4 days with her normal daily use.  And that's a lot of talking by my count.
The phone pulls the most power.  330ma from the 12V SLA when the phone battery is Very low, and it tapers down after that.  It is usually fully charged after about 90 minutes.

The GPS can go "12 Hours" according to Garmin's site, and she set the recording frequency low.
It does not take much to recharge.  My best guess is 100ma average for 1 hour.

I do not recall the camera battery charger drain, but it is not a lot.
Guessing it is 100mA for about 90 minutes.  Probably less.
Hard to tell with a camera battery, because we charge t every night so it rarely gets "low".
I topped it off with the "above system" 2 days ago and it took about 12 minutes.

My calculations, based on guesses about how much power she will use, say the 12V 7.2AH SLA would bring her in with mostly full batteries, even if there was no solar charging.
That is because of the switching regulator chargers.  Without the switchers, it would be a questionable venture.

There are 2 days with a stationary base camp.  Riding 101 miles that day is optional (recall I said she was nuts?).
Their tents are in the same place for 2 days.
Meaning the PV can be charging the 12v SLA all day on 2 days.

And she understands some of the more complex issues, such as charging batteries with a USB switcher while the solar is working.

I think I'll keep her
G-

[harley1782000]

Wait confused.  When you go for a bike ride and do camping aren't you suppose to leave the "Junk" behind??  Cell phone, pdas, gps...  I guess it is a new way to go camping...

Jim

[ghurd]

A week is a long time without a phone.
Pay phones are about non-existent around here any more.  11,000 people in this town, and only 1 pay phone, which would be a heck of a line if 3,000 riders came here!

The GPS is a for bikes.  It records about anything that can be recorded.
Speed, cadence, elevation, % grade, heart rate, calories burned, etc.
Then software on a computer down loads the data and overlays it with maps and weather.
Pick a spot along the map, and it'll tell how steep the hill was, speed, cadence, heart rate, temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, etc.
Don't leave home without it!

It is a touring ride. Gotta have a camera for a touring trip.  Just a tiny point&shoot.
Hate to not have photos of the "Worlds Largest Washboard".   

Weight is not an issue for this one, but the battery weighs about 5-1/2 pounds, PV maybe a bit over a pound, cords and adapters under a pound?
Could have used a much smaller battery, but did not have one here.

[Fused]

Cool deal. Looks like you can adapt as needed Glen. Way to go making a survival kit for your wife. A phone, GPS and extras make life comfortable and safe when your out having fun. Way to go doing it RE.


Fused

[windy]

ghurd
 Just put a generator on her bike. The battery will charge as she is biking, and after you stop for the night, if she needs more power, prop up the back tire and she can pedal away and you can sit and watch. Same as pedaling the stationary bike in the gym. lol

windy

[wooferhound]

A generator on the bike will create drag as it generates power
that's not so fun when you're biking 100+ miles

Glen
Are you ready for the orders for more systems when she returns ?

[zap]

Nice setup G-

I think you and gotwind2 need to confab on a system.  By the time next years GOBA comes around your wife could probably offer recharging services for everyone!
Of course Ben would probably want to attach a wind turbine to your wife's helmet... there would obviously need to be compromises.

Or forget about the solar panels and turbines... save your egg money... and get one or two of these.

http://www.yesa.com.hk/goods.asp?id=83

[ghurd]

I received the 1st report.
Everything is still working fine.
Her tent was set up at the south end making the apparatus 'behind' the tent and not visible to others.  I was curious about comments people happening by would have.
Her tent has a power cord opening so the PV can be outside, while everything else is in the tent (cool feature that will probably limit curiosity comments).

Adaptability was a side effect of off-the-shelf components. 
Familiar-looking parts seem important for understanding operation, which I learned when nobody would get within 10' of my last multipurpose portable RE system.  They called it "The Octopus", though centipede would have more accurate.     All the circuitry was in a very clearly labeled box with a hard wired input AND output for every conceivable purpose and situation.

I toyed with the idea of a bike mounted generator.  Couple issues with that, mostly related to the bike being somewhat higher end.
The battery would increase the bike weight by over 30% ("They" weigh this stuff accurate to about 2/3rds of a grain, or 1/10 gram).  And the added drag would be a no-go, even if the tires could handle the stress(?).
Can not buy a mount suited the the dimensions, and not supposed to stress carbon fiber with clamp on items, and no chance drilling holes in a handmade bike is going to happen.
Weight was not a big issue in packing, but the weight/bulk of a trainer and PMA probably would be.  And given the miles covered in a week in the foothills of the Appalachians, she's probably not going to be very happy peddling more at the end of the day.

Could sell the tar out of the LED lights to the hardcore riders.  Except she is decidedly not of the salesman personality.
They are not afraid to spend money.  Water bottle holder for a bike should cost $5?  Nope.  But it is cheaper to buy 2 at a time.
(thank goodness she is not this hardcore about equipment)
http://www.competitivecyclist.com/road-bikes/product-accessories/2010-campagnolo-record-carbon-water-bottle-cage-793.96.0.html

Dang Zap!  That battery is good for motorcycles up to 250cc.
I bought a 250cc road bike for less than that battery costs... and it came with a battery!

I like the windmill on the helmet idea, but she doesn't drink, so I doubt I'll be able to convince her it is a good idea. 
Too bad.  Would be a great photo!
G-

[zap]

I received the 1st report.
Everything is still working fine.

It's good to hear it's working well... always a little nerve wracking when it's a new design eh?

They are not afraid to spend money.  Water bottle holder for a bike should cost $5?  Nope.  But it is cheaper to buy 2 at a time.
(thank goodness she is not this hardcore about equipment)

It's amazing what the weight weenies will spend to drop a few grams.
A few years ago I decided to splurge on some special chain lube.  There was only one kid in the shop and and he was helping the one other customer.  I was eying a couple of frames they had hanging on the wall when the other customer left and the kid came to help me.
The frame was titanium, weighed around 3 lbs and cost around a grand/pound.  He took the frame down and handed it to me and I grabbed that frame at the rear axle location and was able hold it level with my arm straight out!
I guess it might be worth it... I asked him if had one and he said he didn't, he was a mountain biker, but they had built a few up for customers and the head mechanic told him to take one of them out for a shake down ride.
He said he had done two pedal revolutions and was already doing about 25 mph.
I think the whole bike was a little shy of $5K by the time they were done with it.

Everything I've ever spent on bikes is probably less than what a lot of people spend on a wheel set.

[dave ames]

thanks for the look ghurd,

hard to believe what can be done with such small amounts of power!
-worldwide instant communications
-real time satellite navigation
-data logging and computing of the progress/performance
-all kinds of "magic" instant uploading of photos to social network sites
-other stuff i can't even comprehend?

the "tiny" power revolution is upon us!

any other tips on how to tell if a power converter is an efficient "switch mode" type supply? i'm still never quite sure till we get a meter on the darn things.

had a look at the GOBA event site..what a HUGE event! we all have to be a little nutty at something to keep our sanity i guess....

looking forward to the progress reports.

cheers, dave

[ghurd]

This update brought to you digitally by "tiny" solar power...

She is somewhere near Athens, OH, and this is apparently charging the cell phone.
(the camera battery must be in the camera, and the GPS uses a different cord)

[ghurd]

The heat index was through the roof down there today,
but she did the extra 102 miles (165km) of 'optional riding' today.
Today was a 'layover day' so participants can rest up for the 2 more days of peddling home.
She gets bored too fast?

[Junkie]

Neat setup there! Thanks for sharing.

[ghurd]

Last update.
Everything worked as designed. 

BTW- She said modern bicycling is all about the technology.
(how fast is your heart rate, while pedaling up a 7% grade hill, at what speed and cadence, how does it change with distance up the hill, how was it effected by events before the hill, and what effect did it have after the hill)
Some of it gets pretty intense.

G-

[Bruce S]

G-;
Glad to see it all worked out. I am inspired to build something hybrid, like the battery ZAP showed except using NiCds or something :-)

ZAP: Just what is the weight on that? I couldn't find it on the site info. I don't really agree with their notes on discharge for LA based discharges. I have motorcycle batteries 3 years old and they can sit for months and still start the 150cc.
Cool looking battery though

Cheers;
Bruce S   

[zap]

ZAP: Just what is the weight on that? I couldn't find it on the site info. I don't really agree with their notes on discharge for LA based discharges.

Bruce, I couldn't find the weight on it but I think the A123 26650 cell is around 70 grams so that battery is somewhere around 1 lb- 3 oz for the cells then whatever for cell connection, the BMS, and the case?  Probably less than 3 lbs.  Their 20ah version is around 12 lbs... amazing.
I agree with you, their LA notes are a little biased.

Edit:
Just saw the weight on that battery Bruce, they say less than 0.7KG so probably somewhere around 1.5 lbs

[Bruce S]

ZAP: Just what is the weight on that? I couldn't find it on the site info. I don't really agree with their notes on discharge for LA based discharges.

Bruce, I couldn't find the weight on it but I think the A123 26650 cell is around 70 grams so that battery is somewhere around 1 lb- 3 oz for the cells then whatever for cell connection, the BMS, and the case?  Probably less than 3 lbs.  Their 20ah version is around 12 lbs... amazing.
I agree with you, their LA notes are a little biased.

Edit:
Just saw the weight on that battery Bruce, they say less than 0.7KG so probably somewhere around 1.5 lbs

WOW! that beats my NiCds to death, but of course these are old Tech...
I looked at the 20 & 30Ah units. Those would be nice for the 48V e-bike but pricey right now...
'bent e-cycle is coming along, but real slow, welding is fun until you goof, then it's work. The Suzuki motorcycle frame lends itself to cutting for a more comfortable ride and the hub technology is getting better by leaps and bounds.
[G- sorry for hijacking your post]

Cheers
Bruce S

[ghurd]

No worries.
G-