I was disappointed to find out that the solar pannels can only be used to run the fans in hot weather. Any way to get it to trickle charge the accessory battery? That would compensate for some of the drain if car is left unattended in a parking for a few weeks (like at airport).
Re: Solar pannel charging There is no official way to do it. Obviously there is a way if you want to do the modifications, but it hardly seems worth the effort. Tom
Re: Solar pannel charging And it will void your warranty on the most expensive part of the vehicle... I live in NJ and I would go for Solar if it works like you want but it is a just too expensive gadget where it might work for only 3 months of the year. My solution for the summer is combination of 1 inch roll down of window with sigma window visor and window heatshield from PC shop. It will work as good as solar roof. If you live in Arizona or Nevada and park under direct sunlight all the time, go for it. Otherwise save money and get something more useful to your Prius.
Re: Solar pannel charging Well, it came with the car. In Canada we don't have much choice for options. If you want the loaded car it's option 3, that's it!
Re: Solar pannel charging Your original question is understandable. One of the most common questions I get regarding my Prius is "Do the solar panels charge the battery?", followed by "Why not?". I don't plan on making any modifications to this and I doubt that the current output of the solar array would be large enough to be all that effective at charging batteries. As you say, here in Canada, the sunroof is bundled with a package that includes leather and Nav among other things. I don't regret having it.
Re: Solar pannel charging well, if the circulation fans were 12 volt, i could see it in a sense. but we also have to look at control circuitry. otherwise it could drain the battery. i suppose you could control it with diodes, but not sure its worth it. its pretty much been established that Toyota has addressed the 12 volt battery issues, so kinda like turning on the AC in January what i would do if so inclined is wire it up so it runs fans in summer, preheats seats in winter... hmmm... ya... maybe. guess it depends on the heater, but most will run at nearly any voltage. just not as efficiently. but with solar, its not like you are paying for it
Re: Solar pannel charging Good point, regarding using the solar panels for heating the car. Pre-warming the car, seats or otherwise, would be a welcome feature in the winter months.
Re: Solar pannel charging Please do not worry about pre-warming by solar electric power. Your Prius is already equipped as a greenhouse by the direct solar power. The solar panel is only 16% efficiency and has very small area. The greenhouse effect is more than that. glass solar transmittance 1 front window shield 48% 2 front door 49% 3 front quarter 46% 4 rear door 34% 5 rear quarter 48% 6 back door 47% Ken@Japan
Nissan has already announced that one of the accessories that will be available will be solar panel spoiler that will trickle charge the system. not sure how much you could get off a spoiler and why a whole roof option was not investigated, but at least they have it (reportedly)
The solar panel used on the 2010 Prius IV model are all manufactured by the company named, " Kyocera". They have a facility in Arizona. If you check with them they might even offer a suggestion about some of these ideas. They have set the record for photovoltaic panel efficiency numerous times. There used to be a solar panel that could plug into your cigarette lighter/ power outlet to keep the cars' battery charged when parked over extended periods. I would think they may have improved by now.
