I think I read about this on here somewhere. I was wondering if anyone has tried charging their Prius with the goal zero yeti battery pack?
Do you mean carrying the Yeti power station with you, and plugging in wherever you want to set up? Or do you mean instead of plugging into the home outlet?
I'm not sure why anyone would want to do that. The largest one I've seen has a rated capacity of 1.2 kWh. The Prius plug-in has a 4.4 kWh battery, so it would take at least 3 separate charging operations for a full charge, which is good for maybe 12 miles. The losses involved with charging and discharging batteries are quite significant; over 50 % loses each time I believe, therefore what would have been 40 cents of electricity from a charging station, would end up costing 3-4 times as much by going through such a battery pack. That's not including the extra cost of investment and the extra time involved.
this is the largest version Goal Zero Yeti 1250 Solar Generator | Power Packs | Goal Zero With the largest solar panel they sell, it will charge in over 80 hours, so about 8 days. (you could add more than one) Boulder 30 Solar Panel | Solar Panels | Goal Zero As near as I can tell a Prius PHV does a complete charge with 3.1-3.2kWh of electricity, so you would need 3 seti chargers for a complete charge. So, one charge every 8 days is $4500 worth of gear. I am guessing roof mounted fixed solar will be more practical. [others posted while I was looking up data and doing math]
I was taken to task in another thread for proposing a roof-mounted solar panel. I still think it has real value, even if the benefit isn't large.
I was thinking about charging it with the panels then bringing it with me on the road. I don't know the specs but 1/3 charge for all that gear would not be worth it. I was thinking about picking up the yeti for emergencies anyway. I thought maybe I can use it for the Prius too.
The south facing roof of my garage is 40 feet by 30 feet, at 10 watts per square foot I think I could generate 12 kW It is not that small a number.
I have 2 kW solar array on my home's roof. It can supply all the electricity I need during grid outages, and during normal operations spins my meter backward to reduce my electric bill (which is called 'net-metering'). Battery backup provides electricity during grid outages when the sun isn't shining.
Totally off topic, but in the recent novel "The Martian" by Andy Weir, a stranded NASA astronaut on Mars has to improvise a way to get 3200km using a rover, and the story describes him doing exactly what you propose - carrying solar cells to recharge periodically on the way. A really great and geeky story, and highly entertaining.
You two are talking about 2 different roofs. I believe he was talking the roof of the car in that other thread - wish List .......
There have been a number of people that have put solar cells on their Prius roof, such as; Putting a solar roof on your Prius - go 20 miles on battery power (I do not believe this claim) APRS Solar PHEV Solar-Powered Toyota Prius Project : TreeHugger You won't get very far on a day's worth of electricity even in ideal conditions, though. One setup has a 24W max panel, and with 5 equivalent sun hours, would give around 120 Whrs, or less than 1 mile of range. Attaching a floating panel array could allow more panel area. A solar trailer would give you far more area in which to collect sunlight, conceivably at least 500 watts with today's high efficiency technology (which could more than charge the PiP's batteries or give much more range during daylight, technical modifications notwithstanding). And it could also be used as a portable power supply, which seems to be roughly in line with your objective. CNN Video - Breaking News Videos from CNN.com FD Prius Power