The Sustainable Home Survey Company (SHS) is the UK’s leading community-focused
energy assessment company and social incubator. SHS’s management team has delivered over
15 low carbon ventures to market, and actively supports team members in identifying and
growing spinout businesses.
SHS proposes the creation of the UK’s first solar powered electric Solar Bikes (e-SBs) and its
supporting pay-per-use infrastructure to provide urban communities with an alternative lowcarbon,
low-cost, and commuter friendly transport mode for long journeys.
UK has made a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% below base
year levels by 2050. Meeting this target will require substantial energy efficiency
improvements in the transport sector. Increasing public transport costs and congested roads
are significantly impacting on commuters in urban communities. This has created a
compelling social/economic imperative for a low-cost and low carbon commuter transport
mode.
e-SB takes advantage of reductions in telematics costs and newly developed holographic solar
technology to create a prototype design for the UK’s first solar powered electric cycles.
The e-SB infrastructure consists of five components: a low-cost solar powered electric bike; a
telematics integrated bike locking system; a recharging station; a smart phone app with
booking and scheduling functionality; and an embedded digital advertising screen.
Successful deployment of the e-SB solution requires co-ordination among many different stakeholders including, solar bike manufacturers, telematics service providers, wireless
carriers, software developers and local councils. Before this can be achieved the addressable
market requires: further segmentation and appraisal; customer proposition validated; supply
chain readiness verification; and development and establishment of an infrastructure roadmap