Bike Motor home with Wi-Fi

[Sam Churchill]

Hi Don:

I visited a homeless who is building bike motorhomes yesterday, and posted them on Craig's List.
(http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/bik/1449161726.html)

Brian is (perhaps) a schizophrenic with some great ideas.

I'd equip one with a solar-powered WiFi Clearspot ($130 + $30/mo), combined a Kindle or Android ebook ($200).  Those devices are USB powered and take very little juice. A $20 cigarette lighter converter takes the 12 volts from my 12 watt folding solar panel ($130) and outputs 5V on USB for charging.

Another design might borrow from the solar trike (www.solartrike.com/electricrecumbenttrike.html) and hitch it to a modified and reinforced bike trailer. Maybe telescoping and expanding options, like an RV.

A 160 watt panel on the roof (donated from Solar World) would deliver 7 amps times 5 hours of sun or 35 ah, charging up a 50 watt/hr  lithium battery daily. That should enable an Atom Laptop (2amp/12v), WiFi/WiMax AP(.5amp/12v) lights and other devices (.5 amp) for about 10 hours (30-35 amp/hrs) before the battery would need to be replenished by the sun.

It got me to thinking about a nonprofit business. Perhaps a hybrid between Free Geek and a homeless camp like Dignity Village (www.dignityvillage.org/). The idea is that the non profit agency would rent bike campers to the homeless for $20/week. Optionally, you could volunteer in bike workshops for credits to buy your own. Work 2 months and you own your own bike camper.

Grants amounting $5-$7K might come from foundations like Meyer, Energy Trust, Murdock and others. It's cheaper than warehousing people and provides a stimulating goal and connectivity.