Help with Solar Sunroof

Good question. We have the solar roof on our less than a month old Prius, and I too am baffled by it. It seems to come on, when it wants. The other day,, I was parked in the full shade of our garage, car shut off, and the vent fan came on. I was like,, ah, well, i guess thats the solar vent working??? Too lazy to look it up in the manual... I have come to the car in a parking lot, and gotten in it, to hear and feel the vent fan running too! But it does not seem to work all the time...

My wife Has to HAVE her sun roof, the solar came with the sunroof, so it really was not something we were looking for.

 

- All windows & sunroof must be closed.
- Once initiated it stays on until you push the button again.
When operating you can hear the fan running quietly as you approach the car and there will be air coming out of the vents when you enter the car.

I rather like the remote A/C start from the keyfob on hot days.

 

Also, when in less than full sun, the audible fan noise will cycle on and off with a fairly short cycle period. The partial light will create enough solar panel voltage to start the fan, but not enough current to keep it going, so it shuts down again.

 

Might be thermostat cycling fan on and off on a partially sunny day. Fan only runs when a certain air temperature is reached in the cabin. Should find specs for fan in the owner's manual someplace.

 

What I'm hearing is much too quick for a thermostat. In partial shade, the solar panels are not producing enough power to keep the fan running. In full sun, the fan stays on.

 

Windows DO NOT have to be closed. I have the side plastic window thingys on Pearl S and leave both front windows down about an inch (actually 2-3 cm as we don't have inches in Canada). I also had the sunroof tilted open today and the fan ran.

With the car running or in "ready", press in the switch.
Turn off the car.
Leave or stay. In a few minutes the fan will start if the solar panel is in the sun and the outside temp is above some limit. Mine was running today and it's around 20-25C (70 to 75F).

If you approach the car in this state, and open the door, put your hand over the dash vent closest to the drivers door. You should feel a fairly strong breeze coming out of it. It's outside air, but a little warmer as it gets heated in the ducting.
The fan will shut off if you put the car in "ready". Then you have to use the A/C system to get air flowing.

 

No dash indication, other than the breeze blowing through the dash vents and a fairly quiet fan noise heard from the front cowl at the bottom of the windshield. My solar fan seems to go off shortly after I open the door and move inside the car.

 

Update. The critical temp for the fan to run is around or just under 20C outside air temp. Today (morning) it was right on the edge, and the fan would start up then shut off, then start up, etc. I was sitting in the car waiting and was listening to it turn on and off. Sky was clear and the sun was "beating" on the panel at all times.
Oh, and both front side windows were down 3 cm and the sunroof was at max. tilt but not slid back.

 

No, there's no light. What I did was put a small piece of yellow tape across the switch opening such that when the switch is in (on position) you can see the yellow, and when it's out (off) you can't.

The key is that the switch has to be 'on' when you turn the car off. Everything else (roof position, windows open/closed) is irrelevant.
You will notice if you turn the car off with the roof open that the car beeps as a warning, but there's nothing to tell you that the roof being left open is the reason for the beep.

 

I noticed yesterday that when I went out and opened booth the drivers door, and passenger door, left them wide open to cool the car as my wife was "still getting ready". Like 5 min. latter, I came back out to the car, (both doors still wide open), sat down, and noticed the solar vent was still working- blowing air! So it will continue to work -- even with the doors open! Pretty nice i think! My only thought is if that vent fan is on, for hours n hours everyday while you are at work,, wont that fan motor give out much sooner?

 

To add to someone above this morn with the temp in mid 60s and high humidity under overcast skies the fan turned on briefly but off again, probably due to low sun. But the weird part was the car was in acc mode with the radio playing

 

It runs constantly if there is enough sun and it's warm enough. You can feel the air coming out the dash vents by the windows if you have them open. I can even feel it on my face, 2 feet away as I get in the car. I say again, the vents by the windows on the dash must be open, not closed.

As far as making a really big difference in how cool the interior is, I don't notice that. It's probably a little cooler.

 

That sounds like what I hear in partial sun.

About what was the angle of the sun to the panel? At 6 pm, the sun should be getting lower, reducing solar panel output. Strongest output is when the panel is pointing squarely at the sun, which is impossible at my latitude on level ground.

 

But the traction battery should benefit, by getting less total heat soak during the day.