Solar Hybrid Automower - Mows Your Lawn For You All By Itself

Husqvarna Solar Hybrid Automower

Three reasons why the solar hybrid lawn mower is a good idea. First of all - we need something better than oil to provide energy - check out the BP oil spill live here if you need convincing - oil spill live video feed Secondly you are  well-advised to try and cut down on your electricity bills, as they will only go up as the years go by.

Thirdly, you may be just tired of mowing the lawn. Well there is now a 22 pound robot that will do the job for you. It's called the Husqvarna Automower Solar Hybrid, and will set you back around $3000 (a snip).

It is a Swedish robotic hybrid lawn mower and has four main components.
The body
The charging station
The transformer
The wire.

In size it is similar to a piece of luggage measuring at 28" x 21.7" x 11.8"

Why is called a hybrid mower ? Because although it relies on a rechargeable NiMH 18V battery, it is also powered by a 12-watt photovoltaic solar cell panel.

It does not use any other fuel for its power. If it is a sunny day the mower relies solely on solar power. If the battery needs recharging the mower makes its own way to a charging station using a signal transmitted by the station, which the mower can sense if it is within 20 to 23 feet of it. The charging station is connected to a transformer that is connected to a 120V wall socket. The energy used is about the same as a standard incandescent light bulb, and it will add around $12 to $25 to your electricity bill each year, depending on how much you use the mower.

Solar Powered Robotic Lawn Mower from Husqvarna

To ensure your mower doesn't wander off and mow everybody's lawn in a fit of uncontrollable enthusiasm, you need to set guide wires. It is supplied with a small wire that you have to bury just below grass level. This lays out predetermined areas that limit the mowing area and can also be used to protect flower beds or vegetables etc...

The mower's position is chcked via two ultrasound sensors, one at the front and one at the back.

Inside the boundaries you set, the automower mows in irregular patterns until the lawn is mowed. If the mower encounters an obstacle such as a tree or a snoozing pet it goes into reverse and mows in a different direction. The mower can also handle a 35% gradient.

So how's the performance? The performance you can expect from an automower depends on how big your lawn is, how much available sunlight there is, the type of grass, how damp it is, and how sharp you keep the mower's blades. The recommended lawn measures around 0.6 acres, plus or minus 20%, and it will get through about about 0.02 acres (87.5 m2) in an hour. After an hour the automower takes a rest and heads back to the charging station for a quick shot of energy and a chat with the sprinkler before heading back out to finish the job. A full charge takes around 45 minutes.

It is worth pointing out that with a conventional power mower you will probably spend around 120 hours a year to mow that that acreage. So that's 120 hours gained to do a whole load of other stuff like visiting the gym to burn off the calories you used to burn off mowing the lawn. How cool is that ?