Solar Powered Bike Sharing System with Electric Bikes - An overview of the energy system and the

Abstract

Combining Electric Bikes (E-bikes) with bicycle sharing systems could have a number of benefits. E-bikes reduce the human force needed for propulsion which facilitates longer and hillier rides relative regular bikes. The system could thus have more widespread network of stations, not only reaching more people but also enable commuting longer distances. It could also reduce the need for redistribution as users of regular bike sharing systems tend to only ride downhill. The focus of this report has been to perform energy calculations and system design on solar powered E-bike pools. The geographical focus has been on Gothenburg, Sweden but the results can be applied to locations with similar latitude. The calculation methodology may however be applied to any other city around the world. It was shown that placing 0.2-0.8 m2 solar panels per E-bike on the station's roof could supply enough energy to make the E-bike self-sufficient on a yearly basis despite high degree of system use. By increasing the solar panel area it was shown that there can be a net electric energy production on a yearly basis. At the maximum assumed solar panel area (about 3-3.8 m2/E-bike) there could be 600-800 kWh of solar energy fed to the grid per E-bike and year depending on the usage level. Using a system that is on-grid and coupled with a stationary battery is seen as the best system design. That would enable origin marking of electricity and decrease the problem of intermittency with solar power. Reducing the interchange with the grid would also increase the system efficiency as the current do not need to be converted to or from AC as often.