1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Solar panel question will it damage my Gen 3?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Technical Discussion' started by LiAiGuo, Mar 11, 2024.

  1. LiAiGuo

    LiAiGuo Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 2, 2022
    54
    23
    0
    Location:
    Usa
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    I'm curious about adding a small solar panel (say from Harbor freight) to set on my privacy cover in the back of my Gen3?
    What would happen if I plugged it into the 12 volt system? If my car is sitting outside for a while, couple of weeks let's say, would the little charge from the solar panel trickle into the traction battery through the DC to DC system? Or what would it do?
     
    #1 LiAiGuo, Mar 11, 2024
  2. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2012
    11,330
    4,614
    0
    Location:
    Pacific Northwest, USA
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    If you plug the solar panel directly into your 12v battery and you have some type of battery minder in that circuit to ensure it doesn't overcharge or discharge/reverse charge the 12v it should be fine.
     
    #2 PriusCamper, Mar 11, 2024
    LiAiGuo likes this.
  3. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2008
    24,904
    16,212
    0
    Location:
    Indiana, USA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    The DC/DC converter only works in one direction, so none of your solar power would end up in the traction battery. But it could keep the 12 volt battery nice and happy. I did essentially the same thing using the factory solar roof (which, otherwise, only ventilates the cabin) about three years ago, and haven't had any worries about coming back to a drained battery since.
     
    #3 ChapmanF, Mar 11, 2024
    PriusCamper and LiAiGuo like this.
  4. LiAiGuo

    LiAiGuo Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 2, 2022
    54
    23
    0
    Location:
    Usa
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Answers my question. thanks
     
    #4 LiAiGuo, Mar 12, 2024
  5. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2012
    11,330
    4,614
    0
    Location:
    Pacific Northwest, USA
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Do you have a link to how you wired that up?
     
    #5 PriusCamper, Mar 12, 2024
  6. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2008
    24,904
    16,212
    0
    Location:
    Indiana, USA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    None beyond the blue one in that post itself.
     
    #6 ChapmanF, Mar 12, 2024
    PriusCamper likes this.
  7. LiAiGuo

    LiAiGuo Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 2, 2022
    54
    23
    0
    Location:
    Usa
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Three
     
    #7 LiAiGuo, Mar 17, 2024
  8. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk EGR Fanatic

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    56,667
    39,221
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    #8 Mendel Leisk, Mar 17, 2024
  9. LiAiGuo

    LiAiGuo Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 2, 2022
    54
    23
    0
    Location:
    Usa
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Amazon has some that have a maintenance controller. I suppose it would keep the solar panels from over charging. One such controller is an mppt (Newer tech) . Which is preferred as opposed to a the PWM (older tech) because it makes more from less photons. Or so I've read. I thought of just connecting a panel to the back roll up privacy cover and connect the leads from the mppt directly to the battery. And just leave it there.
     
    #9 LiAiGuo, Mar 17, 2024
  10. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2008
    24,904
    16,212
    0
    Location:
    Indiana, USA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    The thread already linked above has details of other people's solutions also, and also contains this post with more links to other people's solutions.
     
    #10 ChapmanF, Mar 17, 2024
  11. LiAiGuo

    LiAiGuo Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 2, 2022
    54
    23
    0
    Location:
    Usa
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Ok
     
    #11 LiAiGuo, Mar 22, 2024
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)