Man Builds World’s First Fully Solar-Powered Motorcycle
Richard Gryzch has built what he claims is the world’s first fully sun-powered electric motorbike.
A project that has taken him more than two years. In fact, to finance building the bike Cryzch sold his other motorbikes and even a house.
He calls the bike a Solar Flyer. A name inspired by those Radio Flyer wagons.
“Everyone told me I was crazy for doing it,” he said. “But I’m riding it and it works. And it could change everything. No gas, just hit the throttle and go,” he boasted.
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Details about the bike are scarce, but it travels up to 50 miles on a full charge and has a top speed of 90 mph.
“People look at me at the stop light and just say, ‘What is that?” Gryzch said. “I just shrug my shoulders and tell them, ‘it’s solar powered.”‘
Still, Gryzch plans to outdo himself. He hopes to hit a travel range of 300 miles. I hope he does too!
Source [ABC 15 News] Photo [Inhabitat]
Its a battery powered electric motorcycle, which HAS been around for quite some time now, this one just has a bunch of photovoltaic charging cells draped over it at poorly thought out angles. Nothing new or exciting here.
I’m slightly concerned about the solar panels that face downward on the bike. Also the ones on the sides of the storage unit.
Wouldn’t it be better to just place a bunch on your house and charge an electric bike like that?
Actually, that isn’t a question, it should be a statement. It would be more effective.
Are we really supposed to believe this!? I see maybe 2-3 square feet of what look like they might be solar panels on the sides of the bike. That wouldn’t even power a laptop let alone a motorcycle! And they’re not even spread out perpendicular to the sun’s rays but hanging down off the sides of the bike! Come on, get serious!
CRM: He invested his entire house and his parents retirement savings ……. his wife left him and his kids, well, have disowned him too.
The flexible panel that he has attached to the side of the of the motorbike looks very much like the ME2Solar Foldable 1200 model (=12 watt peak). The ones on the back is likely the Foldable 650 model.
Commercially sold solar PV panels need 150-200cm2 to deliver 1 watt peak, i.e. 1 square-meter gives 50-70 watt. Note this is when the solar pV panels are placed in optimal sun conditions, not when they are hanging on both sides of a motorbike.
As another poster pointed out the the electrical motorbike used looks to be the Electric GPR, which has a has 15hp (11KW) motor. You could probably make it run (slowly) with 1KW (~1.3hp) but to do that would require more than 14 square-meter of solar PV.
I wish there were more research and reality check on these articles before posting them.
Hard to believe all the retards commenting on hoe great this is. It is a joke. Those solar panels would be hard pressed to charge your phone let alone run a motorcycle.
1. The bike’s not his — It’s an Electric Motorsport GPR-S, with a 3.3 kWh battery capacity:
http://www.electricmotorsport.com/EGPR/egprPage.htm
2. I agree with Rif that a square meter gives you a daily average of ~50 watts — meaning it would require a week to charge the bike (3300w/50w/10 hours per day).
3. #2 assumes you’ve kept the panels perpendicular to the sun all week.
I think that reads “Apache Junction man invents solar powered motorcycle” except tehy ran out of room. No solar powered motorcyles in the 40’s, old man…
It must be efficient but still doesn’t look too flashy.
all you nay sayers…show me your solar electric rechargable motorcycle…ooohhh you don’t have one…I see this guy riding on cloudy days and at night…He rides all day long and the batteries stay charged…they are feed a continuous charge thats how he can ride all day…the solar is low light and low angle capable…better get back to your homework…