Charging with Solar - off grid

i dont believe the PIP comes w/ a moonroof?

 

Check out my Kill A Watt readings, maybe this will answer some questions you may have.

Update: August 11, 2012

EV before charge: 1.0 miles
Trip Odo: 12.4 miles
Charge start time: 8:18:50 pm
Charge end time: 10:44:34 pm
Kill a Watt time elapsed 2:27 hours
EV after charge complete: 11.9 miles
Kill a watt voltage: 107.6 vac @ 11.86 amps and 1278 watts
113.3 vac @ 5.68 amps and 642 watts @ 10:34:00 pm
117.9 vac @ .03 amps and 1.1 watts @ 10:44:34pm
Total miles 1393 since acquiring PIP
KWH 2.95

Read more: http://priuschat.com/threads/kill-a-watt-owners-pip-kwh-usage-accurate.108676/page-3#ixzz23OTn2bI4

I don't have any solar panels, this is from my outlet next to my parking spot provided by DTE (detroit edison)

 

The on board charger expects a signal from the power source that indicates the power available from the power source. The question is, does the on board charge use this information as a max charging rate? Or, does it use the information as the actual charging rate.

If it is the actual charging rate, you will need the power specified by the charging cord. You could do this by using the solar to charge batteries that would "fill in" when the array is under capacity.

Does anyone have information, specs or a schematic of the on board charger?

 

When I charge on a rainy day the power to my parking spot outlet comes on early (parking lights on photocell) so when the rain ends and the sun comes out the power shuts off. then when dusk falls the power comes back on. the pip will stop charging then will resume charging when power is restored.

 

If that's your only source of power, then do you have enough to charge the PIP also?

A charge controller will not work. The PIP takes 110v AC at the least. You need a pure sign wave inverter, about a dollar a watt, 2k $2,000. Search this inverter - Sunny Boy 2000HF-US Inverter

The ac output from the inverter comes on when you have enough sun to drive the inverter, 9 AM - 4 PM. When you loose the sun it's the same thing as loosing power. When the sun comes back, the onboard charger will again charge your PIP. You only need as much amps from the inverter to turn on the on-board charger. The on-board charger will only take the amps, up to the chargers amp size, 110v or 220v power from inverter. When the PIP is charged, the charge control will stop giving power to the PIP's on-board charger. The inverter will be on, but no amps will be used.

How much power will the solar aray put out:
You have to know how many sun hours there are, where you live, on an average day. Here in Phoenix I get 5 1/2 sun hours average a day.

 

From my Kill A Watt readings I had 105.7vac and the Pip was still drawing 1235 watts

 

In ref to OPS ORIGINAL question: Is this just theoretical? Or do you actualy have a solar array installed at your residence? So far I don't believe I have come across a thread that substantiated that a solar panel can fully charge the PIP. If somebody answers to the positive, then you just duplicate thier panel specs. Theoretical don't hit it, interesting to talk about but relatively useless on facts. Of course, if this can be done you may have to move to night shift or just drive every other day, or the final nightmarish option drive with the car in HV, h o r r o w s !

 

It's not as simple as just hooking up a set of solar panels to a 2 kW inverter and then plugging the car into the inverter. You need to make sure that you have a constant and steady amount of power (amperage) being fed to the car. In traditional off-grid systems, this is done by having a large battery bank. The solar panels charge the battery bank, and power is then drawn off of the battery bank via an inverter. The battery bank is usually designed to hold 3 to 5 days worth of power in case of an extended period of inclement weather that prevents adequate charging of the battery bank. We're talking a pretty significant size. Dozens of batteries, and not your typical car batteries, either. Just to charge the car you need a total of 125AH with a 24V system. Double that if your battery bank is a 12V system.

To the OP: you'll need to use your batteries. There's just no way around it. The EVSE/car wants a steady amount of power and one cloud going over the array will be enough to tank the output of the array to the point where the GFCI in the EVSE will trip, or your inverter will trip.

 

I'm running a 9k systen in back yard. I have an electric bill, but for almost 4 years it's been zero $. I over generated on sunny days. My night time hours and raining days draw off my reserve. I have 2200 square foot home with 5 ton heat pump. I still over generate 4k kw hours a year. I use 14k kw hours, and bank 4k kw hours a year. Planning another 18,000 btu heat pump in garage shop. A PIP would be no problem to add to my load. Solar does work.

 

Vern, I take it that you are grid-tied? Or grid-interactive?

 

That sounds incredibly good, my roof is directly south facing, 400 square feet. In essence, your electric bill is what you have paid for the entire installation. How much was that? Yes I agree that a good system can power a Pip, a 5 ton heat pump, etc. The question is...as always economic feasibility. With your baseline usage it sounds like you may have a farm or business? Your usage is almost 5times what mine is. Don't get me wrong I am a advocate of solar.

 

Thanks for the reply, your way ahead of most of us, at least you have an array.

 

I have a 4.94 kW DC grid-tied array. In the 3 weeks it has been operational, it has generated 521 kWh. This has been enough to handle the loads in the house during the day and generate enough credits to handle the loads in the evening, including charging the car at night.

 

devprius, I'm grid tie. I use the grid as my battery.

Andprius, $22,000, after rebates. My old electric bill was $1,400 annually , times 4 years installed equals $5,600. That number is larger, it's not based on todays kill-o-watt hour cost.

The solar was not without problems. Wife could not see the solar advantage.

My live Solar Array link below

SunPower Monitoring System

 

I'm impressed......and jealous!