Performance Evaluation of a Microcontroller-based Solar Powered Auto-rickshaw A. R. M. Siddique ∗ , Syed Nazmus Sakib, Syeda Manjia Tahsien, and M. Shamim Kaiser † ∗ Department of Electrical, Electronic & Communication Engineering Military Institute of Science and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh Email: raihansidduqe@ieee.org † Institute of Information Technology Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Bangladesh Email: mskaiser@juniv.edu Abstract—This paper represents the performance evaluation of a microcontroller based solar-powered auto-rickshaw which can be used extensively in Bangladesh for transportation. The battery operated traditional auto-rickshaw is charged by national grid whereas the battery bank of the proposed microcontroller based solar-powered auto-rickshaw is charged by solar power. A PIC microcontroller is programmed to control the duty cycle of the dc motor and thereby reduce the battery discharge time of the battery bank. The life cycle cost (LCC) analysis has been done and compared with the traditional battery operated auto- rickshaw. It has been found that LCC/kWh of the proposed rickshaw is minimum. The practical measured results reveal that the performance of the proposed rickshaw outperforms the conventional battery operated auto-rickshaw. Index Terms—Solar energy, Performance analysis, Drag force, Breaking force, Driving energy. I. I NTRODUCTION In Bangladesh, there are many modes of transport. Es- pecially in the city areas, the varieties are seen frequently. Rickshaw is one of the most popular vehicles in the capital city Dhaka as well as in the rural areas. But in recent times, the number of rickshaws has increased and the passengers find as a very comfortable mode of transport both economically and also environmentally. It has gained more popularity among the poor people as a source of income. Most of the riders of these rickshaws belong to the middle class and lower middle class society. Dhaka is one of the most populous cities in the world. 38.3% of the whole population in Dhaka choose rickshaw as their first priority for transportation [1]. Day by day this number is increasing. A rickshaw is generally a three wheeled mode of transporta- tion that is driven by paddling of a person. It is commonly known as cycle rickshaw. But the scenario of the previous rickshaws were not the same what we see today. In the early years of the 18th century, the rickshaw was supposed to be a two wheeled vehicle that is pulled by a person. The puller used to hold the two wooden bars attached to the body and ran along the roads. But with time the rickshaws are changed to a new look with an extra wheel and a paddle and also brakes. Nowadays, a new type of rickshaws is seen in the streets which get power from battery. In those rickshaws, the battery produces electrical energy which converts into translational motion. In the past, the human pulled rickshaws were very common in the streets of India. Even now in Kolkata, there are few streets where this type of rickshaw can be seen. The main problem with these rickshaws was the necessity of human efforts in a large scale. So it lost interest and introduces cycle rickshaws. But these rickshaws also create health problems to the puller significantly. Physical strength of the puller is decreasing day by day. They are affected by air pollution and cardiac problems. A rickshaw puller works relentlessly throughout the day for more than 7 to 9 hours a day. In the cycle rickshaws, the expenditure of energies varied from 23.5±2.66 to 25.35±1.51 kJ/min. For that the cardiac strain and the cost makes the job ’heavy to very heavy’ [2]. With this kind of pollution the DNA can be damaged potentially [3]. The recent introduction of battery powered auto rickshaws gained popularity because of its reduced physical labor ne- cessity, less time for traveling. The modifications are made by adding dc motor to the wheel that is powered by battery. But the main concern is that the batteries are charged by the national grid supply lines causing much problem to the power distribution. It also creates more loads to the generators. So the millions of money spending as subsidy is not holding good. Almost 50, 000 battery operated rickshaws are moving in Dhaka city. These rickshaws are using around 200−250MW electricity everyday just to recharge the battery [4]. To eliminate the additional power demand and to save our power our work is done by using solar panel. Solar energy is renewable and environment friendly. Bangladesh is situated in a very suitable geographical position for the solar radiation. Everyday we get bright sunshine 4 to 10 hours and solar radiation in our country is 4 and 6.55KJ/m 2 [5] [6]. In that case solar power is very helpful. Our proposed model is thus suitable for those countries that have shortage of electrical power. It is also beneficial to the growing economic activities and the development. The micro-controller based solar powered battery operated rickshaws are more financially feasible and more effective than the others. Such rickshaws are the best alternative of the present auto rickshaws which is charged by the national grid supply. 978-1-4799-4819-2/14/$31.00 ©2014 IEEE International Conference on Electrical Engineering and Information & Communication Technology (ICEEICT) 2014