Michael Rue operates his scooter without adding a penny to his power bill. That's because it runs entirely on solar power.
It's a bit of a spectacle when Rue makes his way along Kelowna's busy streets. An array of solar panels affixed to the front of his scooter is the first clue that this vehicle is different.
"It gets me completely free transportation," said Rue. While the presence of the panels is eye-catching while he's in motion, he primarily collects power with them when the bike is parked.
"I could collect power while I'm driving, but while I'm driving I'm not always facing the sunlight and I'm going under shadows trees and stuff," he explained.
He also uses a series of solar panels at home to keep his batteries fully powered, he never connects it to the grid.
"This thing gets me all around the Central Okanagan pretty much," he said. The main batteries I have in this bike will get me from downtown Westbank to about the airport and back."
With a maximum speed of 30 km/h, Rue admits his bike lacks speed, but he doesn't mind. "The thing that it excels at is getting me completely free transportation wherever I need to go."
He milks every bit of power he can get when he's operating it. He's even rigged-it to power-up when he's braking. "It'll take that power and put it back into the battery," he added.
Rue feels good about not relying on anyone else to keep himself in motion. "If something random happens and gas gets too expensive I will be completely unaffected because I can still drive around," Rue continued. "And even if the power grid goes out for some reason, I'll still be able to have power I have, I think, it's a 2,000-watt solar array on my roof and they can charge this thing in about two hours."
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