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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

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    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

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    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
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  3. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    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
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  4. LiAiGuo

    LiAiGuo Junior Member

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    Answers my question. thanks
     
    #4 LiAiGuo, Mar 12, 2024
  5. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Do you have a link to how you wired that up?
     
    #5 PriusCamper, Mar 12, 2024
  6. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    None beyond the blue one in that post itself.
     
    #6 ChapmanF, Mar 12, 2024
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  7. LiAiGuo

    LiAiGuo Junior Member

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    #7 LiAiGuo, Mar 17, 2024
  8. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    #8 Mendel Leisk, Mar 17, 2024
  9. LiAiGuo

    LiAiGuo Junior Member

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    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

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    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

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    Ok
     
    #11 LiAiGuo, Mar 22, 2024
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