Solar Bike Station is a project that responds to the need for stopping and storing bicycles and charging for pedal assisted models
Solar Bike Station is a project that responds to the need for stopping and storing bicycles and charging for pedal assisted models
Today we are witnessing the return of the bicycle as an ideal means of transport for short-range or last-mile mobility. Thousands of bicycles, traditional or pedal assisted, are in fact used to travel to and from interchange parking lots with trains, metro or other means of collective transport.
In these locations, however, especially in our country, there is an absolute absence of parking facilities, dedicated not only to parking, but also to protection against theft and vandalism to which these vehicles are exposed; not yet sufficiently considered is the need to recharge electrically assisted bikes that are becoming increasingly popular.
The strong diffusion of these means therefore requires a logistics of the service infrastructures that must be planned and inserted in a coherent way in the mobility plans in the metropolitan areas. The Solar Bike Station project is the parking and charging station for electric and / or conventional bikes that responds to this need, allowing municipalities to provide an essential service for the development of sustainable mobility.
Today we are witnessing the return of the bicycle as an ideal means of transport for short-range or last-mile mobility. Thousands of bicycles, traditional or pedal assisted, are in fact used to travel to and from interchange parking lots with trains, metro or other means of collective transport.
In these locations, however, especially in our country, there is an absolute absence of parking facilities, dedicated not only to parking, but also to protection against theft and vandalism to which these vehicles are exposed; not yet sufficiently considered is the need to recharge electrically assisted bikes that are becoming increasingly popular.
The strong diffusion of these means therefore requires a logistics of the service infrastructures that must be planned and inserted in a coherent way in the mobility plans in the metropolitan areas. The Solar Bike Station project is the parking and charging station for electric and / or conventional bikes that responds to this need, allowing municipalities to provide an essential service for the development of sustainable mobility.
Today we are witnessing the return of the bicycle as an ideal means of transport for short-range or last-mile mobility. Thousands of bicycles, traditional or pedal assisted, are in fact used to travel to and from interchange parking lots with trains, metro or other means of collective transport.
In these locations, however, especially in our country, there is an absolute absence of parking facilities, dedicated not only to parking, but also to protection against theft and vandalism to which these vehicles are exposed; not yet sufficiently considered is the need to recharge electrically assisted bikes that are becoming increasingly popular.
The strong diffusion of these means therefore requires a logistics of the service infrastructures that must be planned and inserted in a coherent way in the mobility plans in the metropolitan areas. The Solar Bike Station project is the parking and charging station for electric and / or conventional bikes that responds to this need, allowing municipalities to provide an essential service for the development of sustainable mobility.
A single structure concentrates several activities
The Solar Bike Station project stems from the experience of Generale Sistemi, a Prato-based company present in the RFId market with the distribution of a wide range of products and the design of automatic identification systems based on this technology. The collaboration with Scame Spa – one of the world’s leading manufacturers of electrical connections – led Generale Sistemi in 2007 to the creation of the In-Presa division, a project that combines the skills of both in the development of high-tech systems for intelligent vehicle charging. electrical. To perform the safety and assistance functions, each Solar Bike Station is equipped with access control for registered users only, equipped with a special identification card, mechanical coupling and uncoupling system of the vehicle with integrated charging system; there is also a video surveillance system that records every operation or movement. The station can also be equipped with photovoltaic panels to assist energy needs. Each structure is specially designed according to the needs of integration of street furniture, it can also be installed in parking lots inside buildings, in private company areas, or in points of public interest such as hospitals, public offices, sports centers, hotels and centers commercial, or near seaside resorts or parks. And it can also offer recharging other vehicles, such as scooters or electric cars.
Socially useful but also economically sustainable
The project stems from the belief of Generale Sistemi that the diffusion of the electric vehicle as a means of sustainable mobility can be developed more in the future if we intervene on the infrastructures, making them more suited to the real needs of citizens. “Our station – explains Adolfo Deltodesco, marketing manager of the Tuscan company – wants to be a service infrastructure for the electric vehicle to be positioned in strategic places, such as near interchange points between these vehicles and public transport. whether they are train, bus or metro stations, places where there is a large movement of people every day and therefore the service would be of great social utility. A station positioned in such an appropriate way could also provide, in addition to parking and recharging, all social utility services, including the presence of a bicycle mechanic who provides for repairs, rental, sale and assistance. The activity of the bicycle mechanic can benefit enormously thanks to the targeted location in points with a high density of users. From initial estimates, a station with an area of 240 m2, capable of storing about 100 bicycles, with an adjoining compartment dedicated to repairs, can ensure a monthly profit ranging from 5000 to 10,000 euros. The cost of the structure, calculating a long-term amortization (15 years), can burden with costs not exceeding a rent, therefore about 2,500 euros per month. The key to the success of this initiative is the absence of costs for the Municipalities: we only ask for the concession of an urban area, which must be located in a strategic position, and its urbanization, i.e. a layer of concrete on which to rest the structure and connection to gas, water and sewers. It is therefore easy to understand the strong interest that Solar Bike Station has aroused in the Municipalities: our structure allows them to make specific services dedicated to mobility available at no cost, as an alternative to the expensive services of street charging columns, or Bike stations. Sharing. Projects not only expensive in the purchase and installation phase, but above all in the subsequent management and maintenance phase ». Ancillary charges totally absent in the SBS project of Generale Sistemi thanks to the transfer of management to private entities operating the service.
A bar provides docking and charging
The nerve center of the Solar Bike Station is represented by EVOBike, an intelligent station for recharging DC Low Voltage electric vehicles, developed horizontally to facilitate the ergonomic arrangement of vehicles (bicycles or scooters) when parked for recharging, based on Generale Sistemi’s technology. The EVOBike coupling system allows the vehicle to be locked through a metal connector, in turn connected to an electric cable with a metal braiding that carries the voltage up to the BMS (Battery Management System) of the vehicle. The EVO2835 horizontal bar structure has 4 connections with docking and charging over a length of 2,835 meters. Thanks to the use of RFId technology, it is possible to identify both the vehicle requesting the supply (Tag in the plug), and the authorized driver with an enabled card. EVOBike allows various configurations to adapt the charging service to different needs, and also possible integration with other In-Presa products for charging 4-wheeled vehicles in alternating current. With the Solar Bike Station project it is therefore possible to put in place mixed stations, not only for charging pedal-assisted bicycles but, on the outside of the structures, charging stalls will also be available for electric cars or scooters.
A single structure concentrates several activities
The Solar Bike Station project stems from the experience of Generale Sistemi, a Prato-based company present in the RFId market with the distribution of a wide range of products and the design of automatic identification systems based on this technology. The collaboration with Scame Spa – one of the world’s leading manufacturers of electrical connections – led Generale Sistemi in 2007 to the creation of the In-Presa division, a project that combines the skills of both in the development of high-tech systems for intelligent vehicle charging. electrical. To perform the safety and assistance functions, each Solar Bike Station is equipped with access control for registered users only, equipped with a special identification card, mechanical coupling and uncoupling system of the vehicle with integrated charging system; there is also a video surveillance system that records every operation or movement. The station can also be equipped with photovoltaic panels to assist energy needs. Each structure is specially designed according to the needs of integration of street furniture, it can also be installed in parking lots inside buildings, in private company areas, or in points of public interest such as hospitals, public offices, sports centers, hotels and centers commercial, or near seaside resorts or parks. And it can also offer recharging other vehicles, such as scooters or electric cars.
Socially useful but also economically sustainable
The project stems from the belief of Generale Sistemi that the diffusion of the electric vehicle as a means of sustainable mobility can be developed more in the future if we intervene on the infrastructures, making them more suited to the real needs of citizens. “Our station – explains Adolfo Deltodesco, marketing manager of the Tuscan company – wants to be a service infrastructure for the electric vehicle to be positioned in strategic places, such as near interchange points between these vehicles and public transport. whether they are train, bus or metro stations, places where there is a large movement of people every day and therefore the service would be of great social utility. A station positioned in such an appropriate way could also provide, in addition to parking and recharging, all social utility services, including the presence of a bicycle mechanic who provides for repairs, rental, sale and assistance. The activity of the bicycle mechanic can benefit enormously thanks to the targeted location in points with a high density of users. From initial estimates, a station with an area of 240 m2, capable of storing about 100 bicycles, with an adjoining compartment dedicated to repairs, can ensure a monthly profit ranging from 5000 to 10,000 euros. The cost of the structure, calculating a long-term amortization (15 years), can burden with costs not exceeding a rent, therefore about 2,500 euros per month. The key to the success of this initiative is the absence of costs for the Municipalities: we only ask for the concession of an urban area, which must be located in a strategic position, and its urbanization, i.e. a layer of concrete on which to rest the structure and connection to gas, water and sewers. It is therefore easy to understand the strong interest that Solar Bike Station has aroused in the Municipalities: our structure allows them to make specific services dedicated to mobility available at no cost, as an alternative to the expensive services of street charging columns, or Bike stations. Sharing. Projects not only expensive in the purchase and installation phase, but above all in the subsequent management and maintenance phase ». Ancillary charges totally absent in the SBS project of Generale Sistemi thanks to the transfer of management to private entities operating the service.
A bar provides docking and charging
The nerve center of the Solar Bike Station is represented by EVOBike, an intelligent station for recharging DC Low Voltage electric vehicles, developed horizontally to facilitate the ergonomic arrangement of vehicles (bicycles or scooters) when parked for recharging, based on Generale Sistemi’s technology. The EVOBike coupling system allows the vehicle to be locked through a metal connector, in turn connected to an electric cable with a metal braiding that carries the voltage up to the BMS (Battery Management System) of the vehicle. The EVO2835 horizontal bar structure has 4 connections with docking and charging over a length of 2,835 meters. Thanks to the use of RFId technology, it is possible to identify both the vehicle requesting the supply (Tag in the plug), and the authorized driver with an enabled card. EVOBike allows various configurations to adapt the charging service to different needs, and also possible integration with other In-Presa products for charging 4-wheeled vehicles in alternating current. With the Solar Bike Station project it is therefore possible to put in place mixed stations, not only for charging pedal-assisted bicycles but, on the outside of the structures, charging stalls will also be available for electric cars or scooters.