This would seem to be a good starting place for my solar powered electric scooter. Combining a cheap garage mounted solar system with the eGo bike would be a totally sweet way for me to commute. This article has been all over, but as near as I can tell this is the original source.

Countryside Magazine - Piecing together a spanking-new $600 solar-electric system

But what components do you need to buy, and how much are they going to set you back? Fifteen minutes of surfing on the Internet turned up the following items. I’m sure a more thorough search would produce even more favorable results:* One Uni-Solar 32-watt amorphous-silicon PV module, 12 volts: $180.00
* One Morningstar 6-amp charge controller, 12 volts: $40.00
* Two Deka 92 amp-hour sealed batteries, 12 volts: ($130.00 each) $260.00
* One Aims 800-watt modified sine wave inverter, 12 volts: $65.00

TOTAL: $545.00

I guess the question one might have when reading these posts is why I don’t just ride a bike. Truth is, I’d love to cycle commute. I have two problems though. The first is time. During the week, the time I get to spend with Maxie each day is limited to the time between her wake up and the time I have to leave for work. Now, taking the train that’s about an hour. If I were to bike, that hour would be eaten up by commuting and the requisite prep (unlock bike, check brakes and tires, put on helmet, pack work clothes, shower at work etc, etc.).

The second problem is West Chicago. Coming from Oak Park, I have limited options for safe routes to work, all of which require that I ride a fair distance out of my way. If I ride direct from my house down Roosevelt to work, which is a straight shot, I have the joy of riding through Chicago’s Lawndale neighborhood, an scary obstacle course of double parked cars, broken glass, roving gangs of teenage hoodlums and DWIs. This part of town, I want to move through as quickly as possible.

Some day Roosevelt will have gentrified enough that I’ll feel safe riding that way, but for now, I’ve got to find an safe eco-friendly alternative to the horrible Chicago Transit Authority.

[tags]urbaneco, solar, bicycle, commuting[/tags]

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 4th, 2007 at 9:49 am and is filed under transportation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.