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Have some free time this weekend? If you’re in the mood for a new project, you might want to give the DIY Solar Powered Lawnmower a look. It might be more than a one day project, but the final result is a worthy commodity.
No more disgusting gasoline dripping. No more trips to the gas station to get it filled. This baby is fully electric and solar powered. And more importantly, theres no more disgusting ozone destroying gas emissions. The idea is to replace the old gas engine with an electric engine that runs off of a 12 volt battery. Check out the tutorial and let us know if you try it! — Andrew Dobrow
DIY Instructions [Appropedia, via Zedomax]
Jeebus. Why not just use a simple push reel mower and avoid the hassle and the additional environmental costs associated with producing the lead acid battery, the solar panel, and the electric motor? And a brand new push reel mower is going to cost less than just the solar panel by itself, much less the cost of all that other stuff added in.
@cirostratus:
Do you use a push mower?
third alternative:
buy a common commercial electric-powered mower and switch to an eco-friendly supplier or mount loads of solar cells and turbines on your roof.
(though i don’t know if your domestic power supplies in the states are powerful enough to run one without burning out; mine manages 13A at 230V, or about 3.0kW, similar to a 4hp mower but with more torque*. how about yours?)
* in practice they’re only like 1.0-1.5kW as the ultimate power isn’t needed so much as the torqueyness; gas mowers need to be beefier to keep from stalling out