Anyone charging their battery with solar panel?

[CoolCruiser]

I like the idea of charging my ebike ( mid drive motor and battery on the way) with solar power but the 48v charging panel from Golden Motor and others are over $500 (including $180 shipping) which is just too much. I do have one of these backup power supply system that can be charge with a 12v solar panel.
http://www.xantrex.com/power-products/backup-power/xpower-powerpack-1500.as
I can get a 80- 100w charging panel for under $200 that will plug right in and charge the 12v Xantrex unit and then charge the battery from the Xantrex power supply. There will be some lost efficiency vs a 48v charging system charging direct to battery but $200 is within my budget, $500 is not.
Anyone here charging their battery using solar? If so, please describe your system and include part names or links if available.

 

[Saddletramp1200]

I have a Harbor Freight 1.5 amp solar charger that works well. Mounted it to a camera tripod. Whole thing is under 30.00 Takes awhile, but hey it's free energy. I charge 2 12V mobility scooter battery's. I only ride the bike A Schwinn Tailwind a few miles each way but it's fun.

 

[cannonball2]

There is another way to do it. For $196 you cam get a Renology 100w monocrystiline panel, the controller, wiring etc from Amazon. You can bank this into a 12v battery then using a Drok 12-60v conveter up the voltage to 48v or what ever your packs fully charged voltage is. $21.50 from amazon too. This is constant voltage so you have to monitor the charging. I have this set up but have only experimented with it a bit. Since I use Lipos I just run a 12vdc Lipo charger directly from the panel/battery.

The panel keeps the battery topped off faster than my charge interval uses the battery. Living in the sundrenched South makes this a practical way to run an ebike off the grid.

I have run the charger directly off the panel but you have to use very low charge amperages, and be sure you have unobstructed solar view or the charger will cycle out when the voltage drops like when a cloud happens by. Not really practical but possible if you had to. Gotta have a battery!

You can also add an Inverter and run a 110v 48v charger which is probably the easiest to do to charge a 48v system. The inverter lowers the efficiency of the system. I would run two 100w panels in that case( bare panel $139 from Amazon again)