Well, I’ve not been totally hit by the flu-bug floating around Ottawa right now, however a general malaise and fatigue has hit me over the past few days. I suspect it’s merely stress related, but you never know.
I’ve also been off-line for a few days while I was rebuilding my Linux system and it’s better than ever. I’ve gotten a start to re-designing my personal site and will provide a new link once it’s done and uploaded to whatever host I end up putting it on.
I’ve put some serious thought into the concept of solar powered electric vehicles and run some ideas past some friends and they aren’t treating me like I’m totally insane. I consider this a good thing. Once I have some solid designs down on paper and have my personal life in a little more of a stable situation I hope to start building a prototype vehicle, hopefully I’ll be rolling (pun intended) by the end of next year with a viable system.
Fate seems to have her way with me, since I’ve finally found an application for all the random fields of interest I’ve had over the years. Electronics, mechanics, engineering, marketing, design and a penchant for studying such bizarre success stories of folks like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates are all going to be wrapped together in what I have in mind. It looks like 2006 will be a fun year at least, with the plans I’m cooking up. I’ll post some more specific updates when the concepts are solidified and not just percolating in my imagination.
As I mentioned in my previous post, there are people out there trying to make a difference in terms of energy use and personal transportation. They’ve rather captivated my imagination, but I found the documentation they have is relatively sparse and unspecific. I think the idea is that they’re giving you the rough idea, you have to take care of the procurement of parts and supplies. I’m all for the DIY approach, but I wish there was some more documentation provided.
For example, they give you the source of many of the parts you might need – a key element being the motorized wheel hub and speed controllers available from a Chinese manufacturer at www.goldenmotor.com. They also provide links to an online surplus store where you would be able to find an abundance of lithium-ion batteries and your solar cells.
However, when visiting this site you are confronted by a very large selection in terms of batteries, for example, with little guidance at this point as to what you’re actually looking for other than “lithium-ion”. It seems to me that perhaps something more could be done to make this more practical for the end-user/tinkerer.
I am working on getting my personal site updated. One of the features of the new site will be alternate and green ways of doing things in Ottawa. Currently I am experiencing problems with getting into the FTP site, which is why the site is so shamefully unfinished and out of date. By the end of the week I will either get this resolved or find another source of free hosting.
I hope to do some research into this solar vehicle concept and perhaps write some FAQ’s and guides to help the less advanced tinkerer get the ball rolling on such a project. I’m starting with the documentation provided on www.goldenmotor.com on their products which might be useful for personal vehicles of this nature. Once I’ve absorbed more about their electronic requirements I can work out some schematics and part suggestions for the power sources. I think having some more concise documentation of these things would further the cause greatly.
Who knows? With some work and free time (what’s that?) I may be rolling on my own custom built wheels by this time next year. I already have a few concepts rolling around in my head.
Okay, so the title of this post is both a double meaning and a bad pun. However with all the fuss about rising costs of gas and other fossil based fuels, it is topical. Jeff Detzky and Will Scully are offering plans online to build your own solar-powered vehicle. That’s right – totally solar powered. These machines have no emissions, and need no centralized refueling station. Run out of power? Stop and have a sandwich they say, let your vehicle re-charge for an hour, then off you go again.
Designed as a real-life open-source project they offer the plans to construct your own for free on their website. If you missed the link above, you can check it out at http://www.solarvehicles.org/. You’ll also find photos and some information on how to obtain some handy parts – such as motorized electric wheel hubs and solar cells.
They say you can build one, with some scrounging, for about $1300. Keep that in mind when you’re at the pumps next.
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