i still don't 'get' this feature. do tell..if you will..in what instance do you use it..and how..and what advantage does it provide? many thxx. any insights will be mightily appreciated!! stan/sacramento
In many climates the inside of a parked car gets much hotter than the outside, solar powered fans will keep it the outside temperature, instead.
So then it may not take as long for your a/c to take over as the air in the hvac system and the car as a whole is not as hot as it otherwise would be. Inside the car is where your batteries live too. Maybe they will have a longer life. Roland
Yep it's on from September thru April in Australia . It makes a huge difference unless you are parked on a black top car park as nothing really helps. Concrete car parks don't seem to be as hot and it works great.
Having lived in Fairfield many years ago, I'm not sure the solar feature will do all that much for you. Here it gets to the 110's and the inside gets to the 130's or so. I don't have one, but I can imagine it would keep the interior in the 110's too and it won't take as long for the A/C to make the car comfortable. I opted not to get it mostly because my wife did not want a sunroof, but also because I just never saw enough of them in use here to make me think they are worth the added cost of the sunroof. There are add-on devices that hang out the window to do that same thing, but I've never seen one of those in use either. The too, given that it's part of the sunroof package, it's more a matter of whether or not you want the sunroof than how well the ventilation works. I don't know that it's worth the cost for the ventilation feature alone.
It works very well, didn't really want the sunroof part, but you had to get that package for HUD, wasn't sure on it at first, but it really makes a difference. So of the package overall, I'm glad I got it, Solar vent is nice, and really love the HUD.
I leave it "on" year round since it will run when the conditions are met (e.g. summer) and it'll stay dormant when the conditions are not met (e.g. winter). You do want to turn it off if you're parked in a dusty area so that it doesn't continuously suck in dusty air and clog the air filter. You're parked at the mall, it's July and it's a hot summer day. After you park your Prius with the Solar Panel Ventilation System (SPVS) on, the car will switch to "Fresh Air" mode on the climate control 1 minute after you turn off the car. After 10 minutes, the SPVS will get to work. The speed of the fan and the frequency of operation of the fan is dependent on the interior temperature of the car and the amount of incoming solar energy the solar panels can receive (so even on a warm Spring day, it can provide some cooling). Let's continue with our scenario where it's a hot July day. In this scenario, the fans will be running continuously, venting out the hot air inside the vehicle, and drawing in cooler outside air into the vehicle. The SPVS will continue to run even if you unlock the car and load things into the trunk as long as you don't turn on the car (IG-ON or actually starting the car). In addition to the SPVS, there is an A/C button on your keyless remote fob; that controls the Remote A/C System. When activated, it will run the A/C compressor to cool the car down (the A/C compressor runs off the hybrid battery so you're not idling the engine, wasting fuel) and can help make the interior more pleasant upon return to the vehicle. The Remote A/C will run for up to 3 minutes or until the hybrid battery is low, whichever is first. Advantages? Cooler interior (hot air vented out of the car) Less strain on the A/C to cool the interior when you get back and drive off Can be used with Remote A/C to get the interior to a comfortable temperature The SPVS button is to the left of the steering wheel by your left knee.
Another good point in favour of this system is the fact that after using the a/c system, especially when it is humid outside leaves your evaporator inside the car at risk of getting all funky with a chance of stuff starting to grow on those closely spaced cooling fins. The solar cooling system waits about ten minutes before it fires up.... to prevent heating those cooling coils up if you are returning to the car to resume a drive... but if longer than that, it works to dry up the evaporator and housing/ducts to keep things fresh. I like it. Also was part of an overall package of goodies I was willing to pay extra for. Roland
just re-read after a day of playing with the 2 features. the fan..on a 101 degree day..as Sacto was today doesn't help. but that AC option is dy-no-mite!! thx again..Northerner!! most..most helpful!!
np! Well on a 101 degree day, it just vents the hot air out. Try parking it outside if it's still 101 degrees and turn off the SPVS and feel the difference after an hour or so.
I wish this option was offered with the Plug-in. Totally would have paid extra for it (even if I lost some mileage).
I'm tempted to give an aftermarket window unit a try. Trouble is if they really worked here, I'd expect to see a lot of places selling them and I don't.
Works pretty well in North Texas! Love being able to hit the AC button to cool it down, but really I notice getting back into the car.... that it is not so much hotter than outside.
