Solar Locker for Electric Bikes
by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 04. 9.05
You know that rush you feel when you do something good for the environment? Especially if it involves you acquiring a shiny new product like a cute electric scooter or an electric bike. Well, the Solar Shell(TM)Electric Bike Charging Station is a product that the ultimate solar geek will not want to be without, but which is also screaming for some out-of-the-box thinking about the questions that drive the consumer demand for a solar locker.
For example, where can I store my expensive electric bike when I arrive at work or stop to run an errand? Many traditional bikers have a decent bike for touring and a second "city-bike"--so ratty they are willing to park it using lock technology that costs only a day's wages. But every electric bike is, by definition, a serious investment. If electric bikes are to be an integral part of a more efficient society rather than just a shiny toy, an infrastructure must be imagined which supports safely parking and even recharging such vehicles. The traditional herd of bikes straggling across the sidewalk would quickly reach unacceptable proportions with the often more voluminous electric bikes in common use.
Which brings us to the second question: can you imagine an infrastructure of solar lockers at key locations around the city, rented by the hour much like a parking space often is? Would your employer support dedicating part of the parking lot to the purpose? Some re-design to look less like a bunker would certainly help. Even offering 359 colors cannot disguise the fact that twenty of these lined up on a swipe-card system would look like a row of portable toilets.
With those questions we open the floor: if you have seen the perfect solution for safe storage and reliable recharging of your electric bike, or if you know of any commendable public infrastructure (like the bike trees of Geneva) leave a comment or drop us a tip (tips at treehugger dot com). [by ©C. Lepisto]
A portico or train station-like awning would work well. They could be located on median strip of boulevards and avenues so as to gain as much sun as possible (out of building shade). Use "easy pass" card system to enter under the awning (again like a train or subway station or parking garage uses)and plug in. Leave scooter there and take card in to work. Exit not allowed without card. For added security, no opening can be as wide a the narrowest handle bar set.
That's wacky...I was just wishing my bike locker at the Metro [http://wmata.com/] had a translucent top so that I could use a solar charger for my lights.
I think if the bike were stored vertically, that'd help it be much more space effecient. However, I do not have an electric bike, and I do not know if there is any harm in storing it that way.
But creative storage solutions (like vertical hanging) restrict the options for HPV/trike and 'bent riders.
The shed format can be used by anything that can fit through the door and park inside.
Maybe glass is the way to go. It'd be like putting all the pretty bikes in display cases.
Alarm the glass like museum vitrines to discourage vandals, and it might work in the city core.
the locker should/does it have it's own battery, to continually charge up? and then charge the bike at a higher rate than just while in the shed?
think about it, all the time it spends empty, it could still be accumulating juice in a local battery, and then when a bike is connected, accelerate the rate of charge....
(or say it was sunny & empty all day, then I put my bike in at dusk-- a battery that was charging all day could then feed the bike)
FYI, the locker shown here does have a battery for storage of solar energy when a bike is not plugged in. You are right that this would be essential to any storage/charging concept. For more detailed specs on the locker shown, you can follow the link in the article.
It looks like a porta-potty!
Why not just put a bunch of PV cells on the roof of a building (sending power to the grid) and charge the electric bikes with a dedicated charging station, That way there is no effeciency robbing battery storage, or shade problems.
This idea has a few to many bugs in the logic to be realistic. Some things do not get better when smashed together. To me this "solar locker" looks like it might be a perfect homless shelter. Cheap, portable, industructable, off the grid.
Josh
People can say something negative about the look of anything. It could use some design work, but whatever.
It is admirable that a company took the effort to link renewable energy to charging an electric bike. It looks like it is even good for an electric scooter (street legal).
The more that people use alterative energy and transportation, the more we get off oil and clean up the air.
I agree with the comment that extra energy created by solar power should be stored for future charges. That would only create a reserve. One could even go as far as to say that the extra energy stored should then be shifted to the grid.
Great product, great effort and a perfect infrastructure for commuting to transit or work.