Prius Whole House Generator

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Cheap! @ Jul 26 2007, 04:55 PM) [snapback]485726[/snapback]</div>

A good place to start is the Priups.com website. The website layout has a very "Stream-of-consciousness" feel to it, so it can take some poking around to understand just what he did.

As I understand it, He's got a large UPS that he uses to run the chosen components of the house. The UPS uses battery power somewhere around 210V DC. This is close enough to the voltage of the Prius battery that he finds he can connect the 2 batteries in parallel (with diodes to protect the Prius). The UPS draws down both batteries, and as long as the Prius is "on" it will eventually turn on the ICE to charge it's own battery. Since both batteries are connected in parallel, both batteries get charged. Once they are charged up a bit, the ICE shuts off again. Process repeats until the power comes back on.

Seems amazingly simple.

Under normal use (non house powering), the battery doesn't generally cycle so low very often. If you use the Prius to power the house a couple of times during it's lifespan it probably isn't very detrimental (similar to sitting in stalled traffic with the air on occasionally). On the other hand, if you regularly power your house this way, I can't help but wonder if it would adversely affect the longevity of the battery.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Cheap! @ Jul 26 2007, 04:55 PM) [snapback]485726[/snapback]</div>

I believe a few have.

Do a search with "inverter" and you might find some posts.