Kornel, a member of the UMPCPortal.com team, asked my why I wasn’t using a solar backpack on the tour. He was referring to products like the Juice Bag from Reware and the Voltaic Solar Backpack.  [update: And someone has just told me about the Clear Blue Solarpac Series. Another option. Thanks Jon.]

Reware Juice Bag backpack

I had pretty much dismissed the idea based on the fact that I didn’t really want anything on my back and I thought I had all that I needed in my 25W solar panel. However, I’ve had some other thoughts in the last 24 hours mainly because the big 25W solar panel is proving impossible to deploy in a 100% open configuration on my bike. The other thought I had just 30 minutes ago was that if the 25W panel breaks, I’m finished. I need a back-up. The final though I’ve just had as I sit down here is that I need to test as many possibilities as possible out so that I can, at the end of the tour, be in the best position to advise other people what combination of products is the best for a certain situation.

Voltaic Solar Backpack

The Juice Bag looks like the best option as it provides 6.3 watts compared to the Voltaic’s 4 watts. It has a 31 liter capacity (could be good for some light clothing) and is waterproof. It certainly sounds like it could supplement the kit very well so I’ve decided, just 5 days before I’m due to start, to try and get hold of one to test. I’ll see if I can contact Reware to get hold of one under some kind of sponsorship deal where I report back to them how it worked out and whether its worth them promoting them for UMPC usage or even creating a UMPC-focused solar gadget bag!

Thanks Kornel, for making me think about this as a possible solution!

Encouraged by yesterdays progress with the solar kit, I spent most of today finishing off the wiring and packing it all into a plastic box. I then paired down my kit list somewhat (out goes the Nokia N800 and spare mobile phone, two pairs of underwear, one of the t-shirts, the multimeter and a pair of trousers) and loaded everything up on the bike to see what sort of weight I was dealing with. The total wight of the bike and kit together (that’s biking, camping and computing gear) comes to 55KG. I have some food and bits and pieces to add to that so lets call it 60KG. Considering the bike weighs 25Kg that means I’m going to be carrying a 35Kg office. I took the bike for a ride and it seems pretty stable although I am a little worried about brake failure. I only have a back-pedal brake and while its very good I’m in serious trouble if it fails. I’m thinking about getting front brakes fitted this week. I also notice a small S in the back wheel. Its out of alignment and I hope that it can be brought true again by a local bike shop. If not, I’m probably in trouble and might have to switch bikes. I don’t want to do that as I really like FK398. Its been a work horse for 4 years and it deserves to be in the tour. It also looks great. I love the retro style.

 
About 90% loaded. The Kronan feels OK to ride with 35KG on it.

Another problem I really need to think about is the positioning of the solar panel on the bike. I can easily deploy 50% of it across the rear baggage but that’s not really going to be enough. I should have tried to find two separate 12W panels and mounted them front and rear but its too late for that now and I’ll have to work round it. In this part of the world, the sun gives you about 4 full-power hours per day. With a 50% deployment of the panel, that’s only 48W/hrs. Short of the 60W/hrs I think I need per day. However, what I could do (and I really like the sound of this idea) is take a 2 hours working break between 12 and 2. This should give me close to 50W/hr of energy assuming the sun is shining. Outside these hours I might pick up another 10-20 w/hr so that’s 70W/hr of energy from the panel in a day. It looks like its possible and I will test the theory this week.

Under the seat is the battery and electrical kit. It weighs something like 5KG but packs an 80W/hr lead-acid battery and a 56W/hr Li-Ion battery. Enough to take a full days energy from the solar panel. 

There’s about 5KG going on the front rack. Its not attached to the forks so doesn’t affect steering as much as panniers would. I’m thinking of using it as a computer table in the evening but I can’t find a good enough stool. 

Mounted on the front handlebar are the Garmin Etrex GPS logger and a Plexiglas map holder. I will get some rain covers and more straps for the equipment. The Q1b UMPC sits in the right hand pannier its its organizer case and wrapped in clothes. I will have to be careful about making sure the device is in hibernation before I ride. If its in standby and then goes into hibernation it will have to start-up the disk. I don’t want that to happen while I’m riding as it could be fatal.

Lesson number one in the Solar-UMPC project is that the weather is chaos and if you live in mid-northern Europe, you can’t rely on it as a source of instant energy. You’ll see how I’ve had to adapt my solution in my first Solar UMPC video. In the video I present the solar charging and storage setup that I’ve decided to use for the tour. Its based on the fag-packet drawing I did a few weeks ago after deciding that Li-Ion batteries weren’t really the best solution.

I’ve introduced the lead-acid battery as a buffer and despite the 100-year old technology and 2.6KG weight, provides the perfect stabiliser to the whole architecture.

A quick rundown of the equipment I’m using (mostly bought from my home country, Germany.)

• Sunlinq 12v / 25W foldable solar panel.
• Sonnenschein 12v / 6.6Ah lead-acid battery.
• Solar charge controller. 12v / 4A
• Samsung Q1b UMPC.
• TabletKiosk MP3400 Li-Ion battery pack.
• Voltcraft dual-mode 12v battery charger.
• Voltcraft 12v DC-DC adaptor.

More pictures in the gallery here. Many thanks to SelectSolar for their help in preparing this solution.

Just like all the best countdowns, this one is paused for a while. The reason? Taiwan. Both VIA and myself have been non-stop busy since Computex started 4 days ago and we’ve decided to delay for a week. Looking at the weather forecast, its probably a blessing in disguise because cloud and light rain is forecast for much of next week.

Watch out for a video overview of the Solar equipment coming up either later today or tomorrow.

Despite the terrible weather forecast (rain, clouds, heat, thunder) It’s time to finalize the pack-list and buy the last items, prepare the solar equipment (which should turn up today) and do some test loading and test cycling. Over the last weekend I fitted the baggage to the bike and loaded it up with random heavy items including the new tent, sleeping bag etc. There should be no problem with space or loading weight. I also tested out the tent and it seems OK although some dampness came through from the floor. Is that normal? I’m surprised.

I’ve written the pack-list in Google docs and shared it for everyone so you can always see the latest version. Its organized into sections. Feel free to take a copy for your own use.

View the pack-list here.

I will go through it and weigh each section before I go and add that to the pack-list. Despite the sub 1kg PC, it won’t be a light load! Here’s the list of electronic equipment I’m taking.

12v AA battery charger,12v charger for Nokia phone,12V lead-acid battery (70W/hr),Adaptor cables and tips, Batteries 8xAA for camera, Batteries (2xAA for GPS), Camera case, Camera USB cable, DC-DC adaptor, Digital Camera + 2GB mini-SD card, GPS logger and holder, GPS serial cable and USB-serial adaptor, Li-ion battery (56W/hr), Mini battery tester, Multimeter (voltage, amps, sun, temp), N800 (spare web-access kit), Nokia headphones / adaptor. , Nokia phone (6280) + 2GB mini-SD card, Nokia USB cable, Passive USB mini-hub, Solar panel (25W) +cable kit, Spare mobile phone (voice only), Standard UMPC battery, Torch, Tripod, UMPC (Samsung Q1b) + Extended battery, case + keyboard, USB LED Lamp.

Later today  I should have more details about the solar panel/battery to post. Pictures too.

The new tent has arrived, the bike baggage, and finally, some warmer weather so I’m taking the chance to test things out in the garden. My daughter is nearly asleep in the tent and I’m perched outside with the Samsung Q1b and organizer pack resting on one of my panniers, a clip-on LED lamp a paraffin lamp and a bottle of Germanys best beer!

This is the perfect time to be writing because its dark and you only need the minimum of backlight on the UMPC. As I write this with WiFi on, I’m taking between 6.5 and 8.5W on the UMPC. Its also wonderfully quiet.

Behind me, in the spare bedroom, I have started to lay out everything I need for the tour. I’ve written the pack list and there are only a few more things to buy before I’m ready to go. I hope it all fits into the panniers I bought for the bike which, incidentally, is going to be the blue Kronan.

A few things that haven’t turned up yet are the Lead-Acid battery and the solar panel. They should be here on Monday which will allow me to build the frame that the panel and battery will sit in on the back of the bike. I’ve ordered a could of panel meters too because I want to see what sort of drain each component puts on the panel.

One thing I was a little disappointed to find out tonight is that in theory, DC-DC conversion will cost at least 25% of my energy. That’s rather a lot to be wasting just to transfer energy, especially if I charge the Li-Ion battery from the 12V lead acid battery. I could lose an hours computing time just in that process.

I’ll finalise the packlist (V1.0) in the next few days and post it up. I’m also planning to do a video overview of all the equipment I’m taking, a picture-set of the bike and the charging setup and as many other images as I have time to take. The 9-day forecast is looking OK (not perfect, but OK) and so I’m quite confident that the tour will start at some point next weekend.

I’ve finally decided on the start and end points of the tour and I’m 90% sure that its going to cover 500km from Strasbourg to Duesseldorf along the Rhein. The route will take me through Karlsruhe and Mannheim, Mainz, Koblenz, Bonn, Koeln (Cologne) and will end on the Rheinufer (Rhein promenade) in Duesseldorf with a very large beer although I do reserve the right to spend more time working and therefore less time on the bike! If big news breaks, the main aim will be to work and test out the UMPC ‘office’ to its limits.

The planned start date is within the 3-day window 9th to 12th June and the end date will be between the 19th and 21st June.

I’ve been checking maps and comparing them to the ‘netzabdeckung’ (coverage map) from Vodafone Germany. Apart from a few GSM-only areas (which I guess will at least get me GPRS coverage) on the first stages of the tour, most of the route is well covered with 3G services. I really can’t imagine having any connectivity problems on the way. If there’s no signal I’ll just pick up my office and cycle to the next cafe!

Detailed dates will really depend on the weather which will start to come in range within the next few days. The current 14-day forecast via RTL Wetter (paid service) is looking good with a big change coming in the middle of next week. It might make sense to go as early as possible and that means I need to be ready! I’ve still got lots of items on the todo list although I heard to day that the tent and solar panel have been dispatched.  

I’ve just had a nice conversation with my energy advisors, Select Solar, about some of the issues I’ve seen with the tests I’ve done so far.  The main problem being that Li-Ion batteries will not trickle charge. They require a certain level of stable voltage/current before they start to charge and this wastes the possibility of charging a battery at lower sun power. In fact, on a hazy day or with light cloud cover, the sun power might not actually go above 70% and you have no chance to charge anything. This could be  major problem and I’ve decided to try and address it.

A solution to this problem, as I mentioned before, is lead-acid batteries. These are the type you will find in your car and are a tried, tested, reliable and relatively cheap solution. The problem is that they are also extremely heavy – at least 400% of the weight for like-for-like power storage. They also operate at 12v which means voltage conversions (and more electronics and power-wastage) in order to operate the UMPC.

The decision I’ve made is to buy a 70W/hr 12v lead-acid battery (2200g) and to try and use this as a charge buffer. Here’s a little sketch of the planned set-up.

The idea would be that I connect devices to the lead-acid battery as the solar power increases during the day. For example, I might add a couple of AA batteries or my mobile phone in the morning. At mid morning I might replace it with the Li-On battery and during the peak hours I could re-attach the AA battery charger with 2 or 4 batteries depending on sun power.

Two problems I can see here:

• How do you know the charge on the lead-acid battery?
• Will the lead-acid battery be able to feed up to 1.5 Amps?

There’s only one way to find out. I’ve just put an order in for a 70W/hr lead acid battery and charge controller along with some fresh AA batteries, a powerbank tip adaptor for the Samsung Q1, a 12v charger for the mobile phone and something I’ve always wanted, a flexible USB LED-lamp!!!

Later today I will probably be ordering the solar panel. I won’t be using the P3 Panel as the only advantage with that was that it could drive 19V into the PowerBank. Now that I’m going for a 12V source solution I’m going to be looking at the 25W version of this Sunlinq panel which is the same price as the 15W version of the P3 panel. There’s a risk that its going to be too big for the bike at 1m long but even if I fold 25% of it away, its still going to give more power than the 15W panel and during mid-day pause and work sessions I hope to get the full 25W out of it.