Hans Boes

Field Report

When I was working as a researcher for the Institute for Future Research in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, some years ago, I had the idea of a solar bicycle based on the concept of a tricycle with a box for transportation between two wheels in the front and one wheel in the back. The idea was basically: “A car up front and a bicycle in the back”.

As soon as I had enough money I bought an old Christiania bike, batteries, an electric motor and a pedelec-controller (Pedelec means, that the motor is controlled by pedeling and not by a throttle: pedal-electric). Later I added solar panels to the lectric bike. I tested this construction more more than two years and was utterly surprised by the convenience of the bike – not only in the summer but also, to my own surprise, especially in the winter…

zum PDF
http://oikos-online.com/finanzierbar/leben/oekomobil/sofaengl.pdf