Not for rainy days

The usual thick smog might obscure the common Californian sunshine in Los Angeles but in late October that region is still a good place for a solar power trade show. Visitors may even take bicycle ride along Venice Beach - and this doesn’t even have to be exhausting.

At their booth at this year’s Solar Power International 2010 in Los Angeles, Bosch Solar Energy is going to present an interesting energy concept.

 

The company combines its thin-film solar modules with a new type of drive system for Bosch's e-bikes. After all, bicycles operated by electricity are only really environmentally friendly if the electricity they use stems from renewable sources.
These e-bikes make it easier for their riders to pedal: the electric motor kicks in to help riders on uphill stretches, for example. The UL 1703-certified, thin-film solar modules »NA1110« from the »µm-Si plus« series can charge the bike's eight ampere-hour lithium-ion battery in two and a half hours. Those modules supply the battery with reliable, environmentally friendly energy.

    Bosch even claims that Californian sunshine is not necessary due to high yields even at sub-optimal levels of sunlight.

Comments

[Kurt Loeffler]

Dear Marisa,
currently in YOUR nice home town Munich the eCarTec International Trade Fair for Electric Mobility takes place and you can test exactly this e-bike outdoors even at rain (see http://www.ecartec.de/html/teststrecke.html).
By the way: Our client Infineon Technologies yesterday won the Bavarian State Award for Electric Mobility. Martin Zeil, Bavarian Minister of Economics, Infrastructure, Transport and Technology, presented the award to Peter Bauer, CEO of Infineon Technologies AG. The award went to Infineon in the “Drive Technology” category for the company’s microcontrollers ensuring smooth and hence efficient operation of the motor in electric bicycles, the so-called e-bikes. In addition, Infineon was also nominated for its active battery balancing solution in the “Storage Technology/System Integration” category. More infos see: http://www.infineon.com/cms/en/corporate/press/news/releases/2010/INFXX201010-002.html

Best regards, Kurt from Mexperts AG (www.mexperts.de)