A bicycle power generator

SVOboy · 12-21-08, 07:53 PM

Now, I figure there's not gadget made yet, but I was wondering what the actually probability of tying up a generator to the grid would be? Easy? Hard? Anyone have any DIY resources?

Daox · 12-22-08, 02:01 PM

Instructables has a lot of ideas. I would think you could use those and hook them up to a grid tie inverter without any problems.

http://www.instructables.com/tag/?q=...c=on&sort=none

dcb · 12-22-08, 06:14 PM

As I recall, there are some kinds of induction motors that will push back into the grid just by pushing them a few %rpm over their rated speed. Connected with a freewheel and some gears to your crank, and it seems real doable.

MetroMPG · 01-14-09, 09:52 PM

Not aiming for grid tie, but I'm going to tackle a bike based DC generator: http://ecorenovator.org/forum/applia...generator.html

jwxr7 · 01-15-09, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SVOboy

Now, I figure there's not gadget made yet, but I was wondering what the actually probability of tying up a generator to the grid would be? Easy? Hard? Anyone have any DIY resources?

I did this a year or two ago. I used an old single phase 1/3 hp induction motor and one of those bike trainers with a fan. I removed the fan and put a small lovejoy coupling on and mounted the whole thing to a wood board. I mounted the motor to the board aligned with the coupling. I monitored the power thru a mechanical watthour meter like utilities use. I could tell the direction of power flow from the spinning disk. It worked

, but not well for my pedaling abilities

. I could back feed only 20-40 watts while maxing out my pedaling power. Most of the power was used just getting the motor to pass zero power (between using and making power). Plus the ratio was a little too high feeding a 4 pole motor (1725 rpm). I believe 3 phase induction are the most efficeint way to do this but there have to be capacitors of a certain value on the unused phase(s) (I'm currently looking into this for wind power). Either way, small scale induction grid tie hasn't appeared to be very practical. I did the same trainer set-up with a DC motor and had a much more efficient set-up, but no grid tie. You could always try matching a dc motor with an Enphase grid tie inverter

. That would probably be the more efficient way of doing it with grid interaction.

jwxr7 · 01-15-09, 08:31 AM

The contraption is mostly still together, minus the motor. So I took some pics of it. The dc motor is a 1/2 hp 100v 1800 rpm (still wrong for my ratio). I imagine a dc treadmill motor would be an excellent choice for the ratio my set-up has. Or one could make a larger roller that contacts the bike tire to better match the generator. The induction motor is boxed away so no pics of it.

12-21-08, 07:53 PM	#1
SVOboy Administrator Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 291 Thanks: 3 Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts	A bicycle power generator Now, I figure there's not gadget made yet, but I was wondering what the actually probability of tying up a generator to the grid would be? Easy? Hard? Anyone have any DIY resources?

12-22-08, 02:01 PM	#2
Daox Administrator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Germantown, WI Posts: 5,525 Thanks: 1,162 Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts	Instructables has a lot of ideas. I would think you could use those and hook them up to a grid tie inverter without any problems. http://www.instructables.com/tag/?q=...c=on&sort=none __________________ Current project - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. & To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

01-14-09, 09:52 PM	#4
MetroMPG Infrequent noob Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: 1000 Islands region, Ontario, Canada Posts: 402 Thanks: 37 Thanked 20 Times in 19 Posts	Not aiming for grid tie, but I'm going to tackle a bike based DC generator: http://ecorenovator.org/forum/applia...generator.html __________________ . To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

01-15-09, 08:31 AM	#6
jwxr7 Apprentice EcoRenovator Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: mid michigan Posts: 191 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	The contraption is mostly still together, minus the motor. So I took some pics of it. The dc motor is a 1/2 hp 100v 1800 rpm (still wrong for my ratio). I imagine a dc treadmill motor would be an excellent choice for the ratio my set-up has. Or one could make a larger roller that contacts the bike tire to better match the generator. The induction motor is boxed away so no pics of it. Attached Thumbnails

12-22-08, 06:14 PM	#3
dcb Lurking Renovator Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 23 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	As I recall, there are some kinds of induction motors that will push back into the grid just by pushing them a few %rpm over their rated speed. Connected with a freewheel and some gears to your crank, and it seems real doable.