Prius Prime Solar Roof

Estimated Miles / Best Actual Miles on Ev Charge | PriusChat

 

Having owned/own a home presently with 52 solar panels for little better than one year, I do not see it practically installed or feasibly installed on a car. My 2010 previous had solar panels on the roof and that was only to keep a fan running when the car was parked to keep the inside temperature from being so hot.

There are too many variables in getting good direct sunlight to charge solar panel batteries. Flat on the roof is the worst other than not pointing at the sun at all.

Secondly very cost prohibitive for the size weight and efficiency one would need.

Strictly guessing, you would need solar panels 3 times the size of the car just to get it to a full charge sitting still for better than 8 hours.

Have them installed at your home by a battery to transfer the power to your car once you're parked.

IMG_2298 by martydallas posted Apr 5, 2017 at 9:17 PM

 

The flex panels will overheat if direct mounted to a car roof, potentially dangerous

 

what will they "overhear?" that someone said "chemtrails?"

 

This is awesome, any idea on how to tie this into the Prius' charging system rather than having an independent system?

 

Impossible, panel output is below Chargers minimum input

 

-_-

Of course the panels wouldn't be hooked up directly to the Prius' system, there would be several intermediary steps and I'm looking for information on what those steps would look like.

 

Not dangerous to the car or its occupants, only to the operating life expectancy of the panels themselves.

Not impossible at all. Just as the output voltages of the PV panels on the roof of my house are far below the 240VAC of the line that they feed. Yet we/they still found a way to do it.

Let me guess -- more like 720 square feet?

The standard panel size like I have is almost 40x66 inches, about 18 square feet apiece. I have 26 of them, it seems likely you have about 40.

 

In the Netherlands it's available for €1500 and you will lose the HUD, RCTA and some other options. Seems to have something to do with weight reduction. The panel is 180Wh so you need a lot of sun for it be any useful. In the Netherlands there is not enough sun to justify the cost of it. Maybe in Spain (or Texas, Nevada and so) where there is much more sun you can have some benefits. But for me it was not interesting because you lose some safety options. But it would have looked nice on my PHV (that's the European name for the Prime).

 

The flex panels have lit on fire direct mounted, they are meant for canvas or rail mounts.

Yes impossible to run the onboard, it requires a minimum of 90volts and 6 amps of AC power to activate. It will not activate on less than 540watts.

So what's your plan? Charge @ 140 watts into a small battery than run an inverter from that small battery 1 minute for ever 4 minutes on?

Oh wait?

 

I'm not sure what I did, if anything, to make you so negative. You and I both know this is doable because Toyota has a Prius Prime model in Japan that has a solar roof for charging the battery.

I know that flexible solar panels have had recalls in the past but considering that there are still multiple manufacturers who build these for RVs/boats and they are mounted similarly, it's a risk, if any, that I'm willing to take and clearly I'm not the only one.

What if I wanted to just charge a separate battery with the solar energy and when the car is turned off begin discharging the energy of that battery into the car?

The user Chris Jones has a setup that leverages 400 watts of power, what's to stop me from placing a 150 watt solar panel somewhere else and have it meet the minimum requirements?

The big thing I want to figure out is how to automate the process so I can install it and then forget that it's there.

 

I'm not being negative, I'm being realistic.
I work as an engineer at a vehicle manufacturer and can easily say the costs of testing stop a lot of improvement , once and done is common once good enough.

I have seen many home projects like this either fail or go on forever without conclusion. If you can buy at least portions of Toyos OEM solution you are likely ahead.

Anyway, I already have an EV with a panel onboard, the panel is rail mounted into the roof rack and matched the EVs rather low voltage lead acid motivation.

I considered a "mini" range extender on the Volt using a roof mounted flex panel but got the not rated for and fire words passed my way.
If you want a working flex panel your stuck with what evtv hocks and I recommend some type of hollow spacer under the panel so you have at least a small air gap/ heat sync so the thing has some lifespan

I had the 30ahr 14.4 volt NIMH replacement battery installed briefly in my volt with good results (Volt has high 12v cabin loads, the 14.4 battery shuts off the DCDC until depleted)
Oddly I get about a 10% range improvement at 25mph (tested) with the 500 watt to 1kw 12v cabin load removed. I did not continue because charging the battery onboard would throw a cel and a bypass to another 12volt source was getting too large/complex to fit the existing space.

If you have an EE interest and truly want to pursue I recommend DIYelectriccar forums.
You won't use anything OEM and will need to inject current at the correct spot, on the leaf it would meter and charge fine if you tapped the correct point, Prime god only knows. I also have a feeling a boost buck ran directly off a panel is very inefficient/intermittent probably why Toyo has a battery. Mpaulholms is a helpful guy.

My experience with homebuilt HV systems is that they require a lot of tinkering and tend to fail. (Though a few make it)

Give it a try, report your results here. Such a project is more for learning than results.

Good Luck

 

I would think you just asking to be pulled over blocking the rear window with a solar panel like that.

A sudden epiphany of that is how Toyota basically does it? Trickle charge a small battery, and then quick charge the traction one from it. But I don't think even it charges the traction while driving, and just supplements the 12v side then.

 

When the car is driving the panel supplies power to the 12V system. When the car is parked it charges a small 'solar battery' when that is full it will transfer it's charge into the traction battery.

 

Do you have additional details? I didn't see this when looking at flex panels for a work proposal at the start of this decade. The cells in my Gen3 roof appear to have some flex, at least before they were laminated in, yet I've heard of no fire problem with them. The building rooftop PV fires I have heard about, where from electrical problems, not rooftop temperatures.

Sorry, I read this different. Rereading, yes, while any roof PV could charge directly into the traction battery, it will need to use its own circuitry. The original onboard charger won't do it.

 

just got mine unlocked, works like a charm

 

I managed to find the wiring diagrams for the US Prius Prime but I can't seem to get anyone to divulge that information from Europe or Japan so I can see what the differences are for the solar Prius Prime. Anyone in those areas willing to give it a shot?

 

Took a quick look on ebay, and found a few cheaper flexible solar car roofs being offered, though they are probably less powerful than the official Toyota one (is the Toyota one 180W I think someone posted?) And you'd have to connect it yourself -- probably not a good idea... and from other people's description, it sounds like if you get the official solar roof, it comes with a temporary "solar battery" as well, that transfers to the other battery once charged. You'd have to rig something up. But nonetheless, here are a few examples. I wonder if any experienced types will try this on their own with the Prime (and likely void the warranty)...

18V/100W for $200: 100W Bendable Flexible Solar Panel Mono PV Power for Roof,Shed,Tent,Car,Boat | eBay

18V/100W for $130: 18V 100W Flexible Solar Panel For 12V Battery Mono Motorhomes Boats Cars Roof

18V/50W for $80: 18V 50W Flexible Solar Panel For 12V Battery Mono Motorhomes Boats Cars Roof | eBay

 

When the car is parked it charges a small 'solar battery' when that is full it's power is used to charge the traction battery. When the car is running it supplies power to the 12Volt circuit. The capacity is 180Wp.

 

Shoot, I've been telling people toyota-tech.eu has the wiring diagrams, just as techinfo.toyota.com has them in the US. Do they not?

-Chap