I’m probably not the first person to cycle around the world.
I’m probably not the first person to power their bicycle with solar panels.
But I’m probably the first person who has no idea about any of this and still manages to do it! 🙂
To cut a long story short: the first Solatrike project failed due to its design.
But that’s no reason to give up.
The second Solatrike project is fundamentally different from the first version.
Version 2 is a recumbent trike from AZUB Bike in the Czech Republic. This is also an electrically assisted trike, but I carry most of my luggage on a trailer. The solar modules are also mounted on this trailer.
‘I’m not just going to talk about alternative energy, I’m going to take action and maybe make a contribution.’
The idea is to take a long journey in a vehicle that requires energy but is powered by batteries charged by solar panels.
The journey began in 2015 and was interrupted in 2020 due to the pandemic. In 2024, I continued my amazing journey, which ‘could be considered as one of the longest expeditions on an electric bike and maybe the longest ever on a solar-powered bike’.* (*Quote from Honza Galla)
Alone, without support and without a competitive element.
Nevertheless, it is the first longer intercontinental journey to date undertaken with a solar-powered recumbent trike with electric assistance.
– 4 continents
– 51’000 km
– 23 countries
(by October 2025)
The trike is a non-folding AZUB T-TRIS 20 recumbent trike made of aluminium, which means that all wheels, including those on the trailer, are 20 inches in size. Honza Galla from AZUB helped me heaps by sharing his experiences from the SunTrip with my project. Along the way, I gained more and more insight and understanding of my vehicle, so that I was able to not only replace worn parts, but also improve the entire design.
The first trailer was made of aluminium by AZUB, and I had to leave it behind in Iran. Within three days, I had to rebuild the trailer in Uzbekistan, where I could only find one company that manufactured aluminium window frames. Unfortunately, the entire trailer was screwed together from window frame parts, and I kept losing screws on the bumpy roads of Central Asia. Since I had to ship the Solatrike to Australia, I decided to dispose of the second trailer in Hong Kong and rebuild the third version in Darwin. The biggest improvement to this trailer was the DIY suspension I added, and since then I haven’t had to replace the axles – if I remember correctly. At the same time, I also replaced the hub motor and the second motor, which is a mid-drive motor connected to the cranks with a single chain. Unfortunately, this motor was not suitable and wore out too quickly, so I later had to replace it with another motor from Cyclone.
I usually use the e-assist of the hub motor, which runs from 8 to 25 kilometres per hour, but with all the weight uphill, I would be going slower than that, which would draw too much power from the battery. That’s why I attached the mid-drive motor to the cranks with a single-speed chain, which helps me tackle steep hills at a snail’s pace of 4 to 8 km/h.
The entire setup can weigh up to 200 to 300 kg (including me) and depends on how much water and food I need to take with me.
The trailer is 377 cm long and weighs 58 kg without luggage.
The total length with the trike is 555 cm.
The hub motor is an Electroride Enduro with planetary gearbox, 10 T torque and cruise control.
The Cyclone mid-drive motor is brushless and gearless with Hall sensors and also has an internal planetary gearbox. Its rated torque is 70 Nm and its maximum torque is 130 Nm.
I also had to replace the battery twice. Once after only 3500 km, but that was because I used the same batteries that Honza used on the SunTrip back then. E-Pohony in the Czech Republic rewired the entire system from the solar charger to the battery and installed a 48 V / 17.6 Ah Li-ion battery with a nominal capacity of 844.8 Wh. Of course, a BMS is also included. After 32,000 km, this battery was empty because I charge and discharge it at the same time. Since I was in Adelaide, I was in the right place for this, and Mic Chapman installed a new lithium battery (Li-ion) in the same housing, reusing the same BMS. He used a cell combination of 8 in parallel with 13 in series and a cell count (parallel*in series) of 104. The capacity is 10–20 Ah at a nominal voltage of 48 V, which corresponds to a nominal capacity of 960 Wh.
As for the solar modules, I was lucky to come across the manufacturer at the right time and in the right place. While the Solatrike prototype was being built, I visited an island in northern Germany and saw a small solar panel mounted on a bicycle at the campsite. Just in time, I met the owner, who was about to leave, and found out that he manufactures these modules. I sent him the dimensions of the trailer and the requirements, and six modules fit perfectly on my trailer. The powerful SolarFun easy SFe 86-15 solar modules are very light and flexible, with SunPower cells and an efficiency of approx. 20%. They measure 960 x 540 x 3 mm and weigh 1.8 kg each. The peak power (STC) (Pmax) is 86.0 W per piece, which adds up to a total of 516 Wp at 20 °C. But these are just numbers, as there are never peak values.
The solar controllers I use are 2x Genasun (GVB-8-LI-54.6 V) and 1x Genasun (GVB-8-WP Boost 105-35 W waterproof).
My highest speed so far (downhill without motor, of course) is 65.75 km/h.
I use Shimano Altus 6-speed with 8-speed chain, Sturmey Archer drum brakes and Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres 47 – 406 20 x 1.75 with a pressure of 5.0 bar.
I also have a rear light and a front light that are powered by the 48 Volt system.
As I tell you this, I still don’t know everything about my vehicle, as I mainly use it as a means of transport. I focus more on taking photographs, sketching on the go, playing the guitar and meeting very interesting people along the way. There are a thousand stories to tell, and perhaps I have written them all down in my book about the Solatrike journey.
Further information can of course be found on my website and YouTube channel.
