Bike power: version 2 – field test

Bike power complete. Bike, bike stand, 3 phase rectifier, capacitor, 6 Amp solar battery charge controller, 12V bulb.

The bike ( on a bike stand ) were attached to the 3 phase rectifier and the 1 Farad capacitor to produce 12V DC.

The wheel is a  200 W 36V wheel so the bike could only be operated at a low ( comfortable) speed to prevent too much voltage and too much current.

A 12V 50W dichroic light bulb was added to show it was really working.

capacitor at 13.6 Volts and 50Watt 12 Volt dichroic light working.

PV charge controller added using the bike as the power input instead of the solar panel and battery charger was used.

Probably best for charging a small device unless you want to pedal the bike for a long time.

Future additions:

36 to 12 volt step down for a higher current lower voltage system.

replace the back tire with a smooth tread tire.

Bicycle Power

200W 3 phase powered bike hub, 2x BR 354 rectifiers, 12 V 1 Farad capacitor, 12V lamp.

the picture is a gif animation click on it to see.

So me and a mate managed to get hold of some powered bicycle hubs. They are basically a 3 phase alternator built into an over size axle hub. Of course you can reverse the process and instead of adding electricity to get wheel rotation, you can spin the wheel and get electricity. The 3 phase AC needs to be rectified and smoothed a little with a capacitor (3 phase is smoother than single phase however).

The light pulses because the wheel is not constantly spinning. we later figured out we had wired up the capacitor backwards.

The work continues.

The original bulb pictured was an incandescent  indicator lamp from a car, essentially a tiny 12V light bulb. After some slightly energetic riding it actually burnt out, after glowing quite bright.  I estimated we were able to put 21W through the setup safely thought it (by pedaling slowly in top gear) though the bike is capable of a lot more.

The electrical diagram of the bike powered the light bulb.