Prius solar panel hack

Gary in NY Member. Reviving this thread, some years ago I learned there is limited juice we can get from the solar panel, the battery trickle charger seem nice but we need to invest on the battery controller to connect to the battery But I think everybody here have the hope to use it for the main battery, to at least charge one bar or two when leaving your car on your work parking lot without shade for the complete day.

That way we can use some electric motor when almost reaching your parking place. What about the regenerative brakes? Are they just like a dynamo? Am I totally lost? After seeing all that has been looked into, it seems the only alternative use for my solar roof is to help identify my car from the other 5 red ones at work.

I just made a webpage explaining the installation of my solar controller to charge my secondary battery Prius Solar Cell as battery charger I hope it can help others who wants to do the same mod. Hello Gary. I appreciate your comments and feedback. I have a switch installed to the line coming from the solar cell for disable it when needed.

I read someplace that the current produced is enough for charging and for the vent, I am still pending to test that when correct temperature is out and there is plenty sun. If vent is not turning on I may turn my switch off on summer, unless I leaved my car out for many days.

Also, when car is turned on, there is higher voltage on the car than the threshold of the controller, so at that time it is on open circuit condition.

I consulted several solar forums and it seems the morningstar brand is very recognized. Overcharging on batteries is detected with a higher voltages at the battery. Nexus 7? We made it through the Power Plant, and we got Zapdos. I was there. It was incredible. Twitch Plays Pokemon has been reborn and rebranded several times, but this one might be good: Twitch Programs a Commodore Have fun.

While this is a great usability upgrade, for some reason key fobs continue to be bulky plastic monstrosities that when stuffed into a pocket can easily ruin the lines of a well-chosen outfit.

Starting with a Prius key, the first step was to disassemble the already broken key fob and separate out the PCB from the case and battery holder. With those removed, a coin cell was soldered to some wires connected to the PCB. Lashings of tape bring the project home. Unsurprisingly, it works, and works well.

It raises the question why key fobs are so large and ungainly, taking up so much precious pocket space. Give it a go, and hit up the tip line. It comes right out. You will now see a black cable harness. Where another cable joins it, remove the black tape around the extra insulation and remove the insulation. There are about 10 wires in the harness. There are just a few of larger wires. Locate the green one, that is the solar wire.

Using a wire connector, connect this to about ten feet of 16 or 18 wire. Fish the wire under the seat and into the rear compartment. Fish the wire along the lithium battery compartment, over to the 12v battery. I used a Sunguard solar controller just like the one Sombra used. Once you have all the parts together, it takes just one hour to complete the installation.

Hey guys, I'm just psyched to mention this idea. I just ordered one and I am going to be installing it in place of my 12 volt DC cooling fan directly in the intake of the battery cooling vent hole in rear right of cabin. That way you could charge a mp3 player or a phone while the car is off and not worry about the battery going dead. ScottG10 Member. Joined: Jan 11, 7 0 Location: Bothell Wa. Anybody know how much current is available from the roof?

Tekmann New Member. UsedToLoveCars Member. I was thinking it would be great to be able to charge a laptop or camera battery. Actually, The solar roof does not provide enough power to charge the battery. I think even if you were to leave it in direct sunlight for 3 days, your battery might go up a bar maybe 2. Not much of a difference.

However, the 12v battery would be cool to try out.