2010 Solar Panels to Charge HV Battery Pack

[That_Prius_Car]

After I thought about it, why did'nt Toyota just go ahead and let the solar panels help charge the battery? But what I really wanted to ask, is if there is any way to mod the panels to charge the HV battery instead of useing it for the fan.
Thanks.

[Paradox]

Toyota says that when they tried to have the panels charge the batteries the wiring acted like a big antenna and screwed with radio reception etc.

But beyond that, with the size of the panels being used and their power output, they really wouldn't make much of a difference.

[RodJo]

Originally Posted by That_Prius_Car

After I thought about it, why did'nt Toyota just go ahead and let the solar panels help charge the battery? But what I really wanted to ask, is if there is any way to mod the panels to charge the HV battery instead of useing it for the A/C.
Thanks.

I think this has been discussed before and the reasons explained. It's been awhile, but as I recall it has to do with the voltage output and electrical interference. Doing a search will find the right threads.

BTW, the solar panels are not used for the A/C. They just run the fan...

[rctech]

I'm not sure I buy the electrical interference reasoning. If it's rectified and filtered DC, or even in shielded wiring, any interference should be avoidable (It's not like it should have any ac or HF component, or reverse EMF from motors or relays).

But given the specs of the panel (depending on where you read it: 40-80W), even a full bright sunny 80W output will give you only (W * 0.00134 = HP) 0.107 Horsepower.

Seems small, but the traction battery capacity is roughly only (201.6V * 6.5Ah) 1310Wh (437W for 3hr rate), but only charged to 80% = 1048Wh. Pretty amazing that it can handle pulling over 3000lbs for half a mile (Newton's 1st law helps, i guess).

Max MG output is like 60,000W (80HP).
Really give you some perspective on how hard the traction battery can be worked, for instantaneous 80HP assist.

Of course, we wont be getting anywhere near 80W or 60kW, except in rare "ideal" conditions. And there are always losses in conversions.

Float the 12V battery mabye, but hardly seems worthwhile to use the solar panel to charge the assistive Traction battery

rich

[LakePrius]

Originally Posted by rctech

Float the 12V battery mabye, but hardly seems worthwhile to use the solar panel to charge the assistive Traction battery

rich

Yeah, makes you realize just how far we have to go until solar cells are an effective way to generate electricity.

[fuzzy1]

Originally Posted by rctech

I'm not sure I buy the electrical interference reasoning. If it's rectified and filtered DC, or even in shielded wiring, any interference should be avoidable ...

It is avoidable, but it can take a bit of time and resources to get it done right. At release time, it sounded like they ran into a problem, and ran out of time. Punt, try again next year.

[wogue]

Hi there,

excuse my questions, I really don't know much about these calculations but:

aren't there little green car-symbols on the multifunktion-display when I regenerate through deceleration or going downhill?

And one car-icon stands for 50Wh. My experience with the prius06 tells me that i can go at least half a mile (800 meters) in EV-mode with three of these green-symbols.
When there are six hrs. sunlight, doesn't that mean the prius would be able to regenerate about 300Wh?

And that should make close to one mile in EV-mode!

So that's not nothing, and I actually hope Toyota soon finds a solution to connect the solar roof to the traction batt.

kr
wogue

[a64pilot]

I'm not disputing you, but how do you correlate the regen symbols to anything as far as how far one would propel the car?

[ken1784]

Originally Posted by wogue

When there are six hrs. sunlight, doesn't that mean the prius would be able to regenerate about 300Wh?

The 50 or 60W generation is the peak power at noon.
The average wattage will be 20W from 9AM to 3PM, then the total will be 120Wh.

Ken@Japan

[rctech]

Originally Posted by wogue

Hi there,

excuse my questions, I really don't know much about these calculations but:

aren't there little green car-symbols on the multifunktion-display when I regenerate through deceleration or going downhill?

And one car-icon stands for 50Wh. My experience with the prius06 tells me that i can go at least half a mile (800 meters) in EV-mode with three of these green-symbols.
When there are six hrs. sunlight, doesn't that mean the prius would be able to regenerate about 300Wh?

And that should make close to one mile in EV-mode!

So that's not nothing, and I actually hope Toyota soon finds a solution to connect the solar roof to the traction batt.

kr
wogue

It's relatively easy to regen 6 little cars during a 15minute drive. But it takes ideal conditions to (solar) generate that much power in a 6 hour stretch.

You may have 6 hours of sunlight, but unfortunatly, it's a bit more complicated than that. Mostly because of your location (on earth), weather, and panel aiming. If you live in a hazy area, that is cloudy 50% of the time, and your solar-panel is not perpendicular to the sun's rays... the entire time... you can see how the inefficiencies build up.

Here is a link that gives a bit more ideas and details about solar panels and tips (used it for my son's science-fair project ;-).
Solar 101
(I'm not affiliated with them in any way).

rich