DC pilots solar power at electric bike charging stations

WASHINGTON — The DC Department of Transportation has launched a pilot program to add solar panels to Capital Bikeshare charging stations throughout the District.

They're starting with four stations at the following locations as they evaluate its effectiveness:

"The goal is to one, keep the e-bikes rolling for longer — less downtime, less waiting for somebody to come and swap out a battery, right? Because we want to have the bikes in circulation as much as possible. The secondary goal is to further reduce the emissions from the program, because right now, the batteries are being driven around in a truck. We want this to be as sustainable as possible of a system," Aaron Goldbeck, who manages DDOT's Sustainable Transportation Programs, said.

Goldbeck said another long-term benefit would ideally be a cheaper and easier way to add charging capabilities to  more docking stations. Instead of digging up streets to connect to the electrical grid, he hopes they can add these solar panels on top.

When it comes to how long it takes for the batteries to charge using solar energy, Goldbeck said that's part of what they're evaluating, but he's anticipating it to be an overnight process. 

"Ideally, we're sort of collecting the solar energy during the day and then recharging the bicycle overnight, right?" he said. "The idea is [there are] fewer people riding overnight. The bike's there. It gets locked in, it recharges, and in the morning it's good to go. So that's the the normal time frame we're looking at."

Right now, Goldbeck said DDOT has 2,500 electric bikes in the Capital Bikeshare system — about the same number as regular bikes.

"I can tell you we've broken every record on the books this year — monthly record, daily record, annual record. It's just been an incredible year, and that is largely because of the success of the e-bikes. People love those e-bikes," he said.

As his team evaluates the effectiveness of the solar power charging system, he anticipates approximately a six-month timeline until they have enough data to do some analysis. Then, the District can decide whether or not they want to fund more solar panels at charging stations.

This pilot program was funded through a Department of Energy and Environment grant to Lyft in the amount of $375,000. Lyft operates the bikeshare system in coordination with DDOT.

That money came from the American Rescue Act fund, according to DOEE.

"We have every reason to believe that the cost would come down in the future for making larger purchases of these solar canopies," Goldbeck said. "And the idea, of course, is that we make that capital investment up front and then we make it up with reduced operational costs for the program going forward."