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2-Wheeled "Solar Buggy"
Larry Yoder, Sullivan, Ill., turns a lot of heads with his home-built, 2-wheeled solar-powered “green buggy”.
  The one-of-a-kind rig rides on 5-ft. high rubber-covered wheels that are each chain-driven by a 1 hp AC motor. There’s room for two passengers, who sit on comfortable bucket seats and rest their feet on large square foot supports. The driver uses a joystick control to steer.
  Power is provided by four 12-volt solar panels mounted on the roof and tied together in series. The solar panels supply electricity to a battery mounted under the seat, where an inverter converts the power to AC current.
  Yoder had a local fabrication shop build the wheels, which are covered by strips of 2-in. wide rubber. “A length of wire inside the rubber holds it together,” says Yoder. “The fabricator pulled the rubber back and spliced both ends of the wire together, then welded the 2 wires together and pulled the rubber back over the splice. They used 1/2-in. dia. steel pipe for the wheel spokes.”
  “It’s a lot of fun to drive in parades or around town,” says Yoder. “It has turn signals and headlights so it’s street legal. I even have an ooga air horn on it. The batteries are located only 4 -ter of gravity low so the unit won’t tip over forward or backward. I bought the seats on the internet and had a friend make decals that I put under the footrests.”
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Larry Yoder, 1645 J. Creek Rd., Sullivan, Ill. 61951 (ph 217 254-0994; larryyoder1@yahoo.com).


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2014 - Volume #38, Issue #1