DIY solar power projects have always fascinated me. I wrote the book on the subject. And since electric bikes have always been a big part of my life, combining the two seemed inevitable. And so with a couple of solar panels and an afternoon to kill, I made a simple solar-powered electric bicycle setup that was easy to make. If you want to build your own solar e-bike, hopefully this guide will show you how easy it is!

I must admit that I have a ulterior motive for this project. The bigger project I’m currently planning is adding a solar panel to the roof of my electric mini-pickup truck. The purpose is to balance its daily use with a solar trickle charger.

In planning for that, I used several parts first in a small electric car: an electric bicycle. I also filmed the project, if you want to watch my video to follow along.

This build is a bit of an exercise to see what is possible, because the end result is likely to be a bit large for many people to use for their e-bike every day. While some people actually go on long trips riding solar e-bikes lined with large solar panels, it may be more than the average rider wants to carry.

I also cover the front and rear baskets on my Lectric XP 2.0 e-bike that comes with the cargo package, and most people probably want to add some sort of hinge to the panels so they don’t completely block their baskets. But enough of the caveats, let’s get down to business.

For the solar panels, I actually got two different Renogy 50W panels. I wanted to test the differences, so I chose a flexible panel and a rigid panel.

The flexible panel is slightly wider and taller, but is actually less than half the weight despite the larger footprint.

I was able to mount the rigid panel directly to the front basket, but I prepared a particle board support for the flexible panel in the back so it wouldn’t flop around too much while riding and damage the panel.

Both panels fit easily directly into the cargo pack of my Lectric XP 2.0 e-bike. If your e-bike doesn’t have front and rear racks, you’ll probably have to get creative when planning your solar e-bike.

I used some two-core 16AWG wire (probably overkill) and a set of MC-4 solar connectors to wire the panels and connect them to my charge controller.

The charge controller is a 400W MPPT unit that can be programmed to the correct output voltage (in this case 54.6V for a 48V 13s e-bike battery). I got mine for about $75 from Grin Technology in Canada. You can find the same for half the price if you don’t mind waiting a week for shipping from China for your solar e-bike project.

Credit for the suggestion to use this charge controller goes to another neat solar-charging electric bike project I featured recently.

I have a phone holder accessory from Lectric eBikes on my handlebars, and it’s the perfect size to mount the charge controller.

I thought it might be possible to read the charge controller screen while riding, but the screen is so hard to see in direct sunlight that it’s only readable when I stop in the shade or use my hands to block the sun. on the screen.

With the panels wired to the input of the charge controller and a DC barrel connector wired to the output of the charge controller, I simply plugged the barrel connector into the charge port of the e-bike and the battery started charging. charge when I rolled in the sun. And with that, I have my own DIY solar e-bike!

Many e-bikes like the Lectric XP 2.0 can work while charging the battery as well, but not all e-bikes have this feature. You’ll want to check if your e-bike can do this before starting this project. But since mine can, the setup only starts charging as soon as I hit the sun, and the panels stop charging the battery every time I pull back into the garage (or when one a big cloud covers the sun).

Power output varies, but I find that on a midday summer day I can get around 80-85 watts from a pair of 50W panels, which is actually pretty good performance. That’s not enough to offer unlimited range, because I drain the battery at about 350-700 watts on average depending on how hard I ride.

But with eight hours or more of Florida sun, it’s reasonable to expect a near-full recharge of the 500Wh battery each day. Of course the bike should be parked outside all day, which usually isn’t. But then again, this project is also partly an exercise to see what is possible.

And with a couple of solar panels and an afternoon, it’s definitely possible to setup a simple solar charging rig for an e-bike or any other light electric vehicle.

Now just wait until I transfer this setup to my mini electric pickup truck!

FTC: We use earned auto affiliate links. In addition.


Subscribe to Electrek on YouTube for exclusive videos and subscribe to the podcast.