Solar-Mobility is the open community for solar-powered e-bikes, trikes, campers and everything else that moves on sunlight. Browse real builds, share yours, go further.
Community builds
2 Wheels · Trailer
Luciano Trümpler – A Velotechnik Spirit with a Solar Roof
Luciano Trümpler was born in Argentina and has lived in Switzerland since 2001. He works as a cinema technician and loves repairing and building things. His…
3 Wheels
Jean-Marc Dubouloz – Winner of the Sun Trip Europe 2021 in a Solar Velomobile
In 2021 Jean-Marc Dubouloz took the Sun Trip into a new dimension: he cycled around Europe at an average of almost 350 km per day and…
Planes
SolarStratos – Climbing Toward the Stratosphere on Sunlight
Raphaël Domjan already made history once, as the initiator of PlanetSolar, the first boat to circle the world on solar power. His next goal was even…
4 Wheels
Lightyear 0 – The First Production Solar Car
What if your car simply charged itself while it stood in the parking lot? That was the promise of the Lightyear 0, built by the Dutch…
3 Wheels
Stanford Luminos – 10,000 Safe Miles and 4th in the World
The Stanford Solar Car Project has built solar cars since 1986, and it is proud of one rule: it is completely student-run. Faculty members help with…
Boats
FährBär – Berlin’s Solar Ferries
In Berlin you can take a solar ferry with a normal public transport ticket. Since 2014 four catamarans called FährBär ("ferry bear") have been crossing the…
5+ Wheels
Kayoola Solar Bus – Uganda’s Sun-Powered City Bus
Uganda sits on the equator, with strong sun all year, so an electric bus with a solar roof makes a lot of sense. That was the…
2 Wheels
Perrine & Nate – Solar Bike on The Sun Trip 2019
Perrine & Nate took part in Sun Trip Tour 2019, the long-distance adventure on solar-powered bikes held since 2013. The machine is a solar bike. The…
3 Wheels
Laurence & Christian – Solar Trike on The Sun Trip 2021
Laurence & Christian (France) took part in Sun Trip France 2020 and The Sun Trip 2021, the long-distance adventure on solar-powered bikes held since 2013. The…
How it works
The guide · preorder
Everything you need to build your own solar-powered e-bike: choosing panels, wiring, charge controllers and batteries, explained step by step by the community.
Solar charging, explained
Solar e-bikes, pedelecs, trikes and campers all work on the same idea: a solar panel turns daylight into electricity, a charge controller feeds it safely into the battery, and every hour of sun adds range.
A pedelec only assists while you pedal (in the EU up to 25 km/h and 250 W); most people simply call it an e-bike. A solar e-bike either carries its own solar panel on the bike, the rack or a trailer, or it is a normal electric bike charged with solar power at home. Both ride on sunshine instead of the grid.
For a typical 36 V or 48 V e-bike battery, plan on a 100–200 W solar panel. Either the panel charges the battery directly through an MPPT charge controller with a boost converter, or it fills a small power station and you plug in your normal charger. In full summer sun, a 400–500 Wh battery is full in about a day.
Range depends on capacity in watt-hours (Wh): a pedelec uses roughly 7–15 Wh per kilometre, depending on terrain and assist level. Most e-bike batteries are lithium-ion (NMC); for campers, trikes and trailers many solar builders prefer LiFePO4, which is safer, lasts thousands of cycles and copes well with daily partial charging. Keep the battery cool and never charge a damaged pack.
Lightweight flexible solar panels fit racks, cargo bikes and trike roofs; rigid glass panels give more watts per euro on a solar bike trailer or a camper. Rule of thumb: in good sun, every 100 W of panel adds around 20–40 km of assisted riding per day.
On adventures like the Sun Trip, riders often cover more than 100 km a day on solar power alone: the panel charges while you ride and during breaks, so the battery rarely runs empty. The real gain is independence from sockets – at the campsite, on the mountain pass and on long days off-grid.
Most builds in this community are DIY: a standard e-bike or a conversion kit, a 100–300 W panel, an MPPT controller matched to the battery voltage, fuses and good connectors. Our guide Ride on Sunshine walks you through panels, wiring, charge controllers and batteries step by step.
Community merch
Bon voyage
A community of riders and tinkerers driven by a single mission: maximising range through solar energy. From Europe to every continent.
The open community for solar-powered e-bikes, trikes, campers and everything else that moves on sunlight. Browse real builds, share yours, go further.
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