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
Lucaci Arnold Vasile – Solar Bike on The Sun Trip 2024
Lucaci Arnold Vasile (Romania) took part in The Sun Trip 2024, the long-distance adventure on solar-powered bikes held since 2013. The machine is a solar bike.…
5+ Wheels
Királyrét Solar Railcar – A Forest Train Running on Sunshine
North of Budapest, a small narrow-gauge forest railway climbs from the Danube town of Kismaros into the wooded Börzsöny hills to Királyrét. In summer, some of…
3 Wheels
Paul Bermejo – A 78-Year-Old on a Solar Velotechnik Trike
Paul Bermejo, a retired judge and police officer, lives between France and Morocco and is always looking for sunny places. At 78 he is one of…
2 Wheels · Trailer
Christophe Bioud – Solar Bike on The Sun Trip 2020
Christophe Bioud (France) took part in Sun Trip France 2020 and Sun Trip Tour 2017, the long-distance adventure on solar-powered bikes held since 2013. The machine…
2 Wheels
Rain & Ryan – Solar Bike on The Sun Trip 2019
Rain & Ryan took part in Sun Trip Tour 2019, the long-distance adventure on solar-powered bikes held since 2013. The machine is a solar bike. Ryan,…
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
Stella Lux – The Energy-Positive Family Car
Two years after their first family solar car, the students of Solar Team Eindhoven set themselves an even bolder target: a car that, over a year,…
Boats
Tûranor PlanetSolar – Around the World on Sunlight
Long before solar cars were in the news, a giant white catamaran quietly proved that the sun can take you all the way around the planet.…
2 Wheels
Corentin & Laurent – Solar Bike on The Sun Trip 2019
Corentin & Laurent (Switzerland) took part in Sun Trip Tour 2019, the long-distance adventure on solar-powered bikes held since 2013. The machine is a solar bike.…
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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