Update on my end. I had accumulation for the first time this year on monday. The morning had showers then was sunny in the afternoon. Then today was more sunny than monday with clouds in the morning but no rain but accumulated less than monday. Im wondering if the extra accumulation had something to do with the water drops on the roof. Needless to say things seem to be working as expected.
I’m glad it works. Perhaps the rain has cleaned it. You need to keep it sparkling clean for it to work.
I had a big jump in production this week on a clear sunny day in late Feb. I stored 400Wh over the 8 hours at the office. Maiki, I'm curious to hear an update.
Here's an interesting perspective /fun facts thinking about 400 watt hours of charge. So, a (now) 7yr old Chevy Volt charges at 7.2kW which - in order to compare - it would take roughly 3½ minutes to charge 400 watt hrs in the 7yr old volt - vs a solar roof's 8 hours! Also - presuming a plug-in hybrid gets a relatively decent 3 mi/kWh - that 400 watt hr charge would let you travel a bit over 1mi. And isn't it something like a $600 option? Not counting that you have to buy the most expensive optioned prius on top of that - in order for the PV panel to even be offered? well - to each his/her own
That's why I tell people to do their own DUE DILIGENT; and not listen to the marketing hype. Marketing hype is designed to SELL YOU stuff; NOT save you money. If you want to save money - DON'T buy it......... It doesn't help that the OP is only looking at the mileage counter and claiming that the panel isn't working; instead of looking at Wh stored to see if the panel is actually defective. The roof panel just isn't meeting the OP's expectations. Bottom-line, it's a 200W panel trying to fill a ~8KW battery. It's simple math from there. Note: that we aren't taking into account charging losses or losses due to supervisory equipment that regulates the charging process.
Come on, guys, even if it is not cost-effective, it is a very nice feature. Besides, we even spend money on things that have no direct benefits and even on things that have harm, and this thing at least has a benefit.
It is clear at this point that there is no malfunction in these systems, but they require strong sunlight, a clean panel, the correct angle of the sun and the car, and so on.
There you Go . . . . . people buy meth, people buy trank & thus - other costs - they're are not as bad. True. Same logic as the spouse in a troubled marriage claiming I'm not as bad as Charlie Manson. Hey - who hasn't wasted money on questionable stuff throughout their life when you have extra income - or and you really can't afford it. If you buy a nice car & you enjoy it? You & your circle can easily get in & out of it? Enjoy LOL
I don’t think people without extra income can even afford the base Prius PHEV, let alone spend an extra $600 on the solar roof.
Well; if you got the money and want it - GO FOR IT; whatever makes you happy. It's not the dealer's or manufacturer's fault that you thought that panel will recharge your entire traction battery. That data was readily available and as I've been saying - it's gimmicky at best. That $600 option would buy you 1333KwH @ $0.45 per KwH; which is higher than most of us pay for our electricity. The price differential from a std. Prius to the top end PHEV is $11,000 and some change; don't forget that car is a white elephant - so if you really want it, your going to pay extra for the dealership to find and ship one to you or have it special ordered from the factory. I don't know about you; but I have a few ideas on how to spend that $11+K differential that may involve meth and/or shrooms on a warm beach someplace. The trank would only get me sun burnt and FOMO.
Anyway, this discussion about the cost-effectiveness of the solar panel is quite silly, as it is not a common feature. People get it because it is cool, not to save money. Do you know the biggest enemy of the Prius engine? It is short trips. If the extra miles added by the solar panel can prevent the engine from starting up, it will save you up to $10,000 in the long run by avoiding premature engine failure. Even then, if you park the car under the sun every day, eventually, it will break even, but that’s not why people get it in the first place.
You must be on shrooms to make that leap and assuming the gen5 engine is worse than the gen3. Why even consider a Prius, when it sounds like you want a BEV? You can also damage the engine by not using it..... That's in the manual too. That is true, but it's also known that our sun will eventually die and stop powering that panel too..... Assuming other things don't break and send it to the scrap yard sooner. From #174 it would take 6665 hours to break even using $0.45 KwH; if you can get the panel to output all 200W anytime the sun is up. Much longer if your electricity cost is lower. Ain't math great??????
I paid for my solar roof and white mica-infused paint the old-fashioned way: by skipping the $500 air-conditioning option on my first new car — a 1977 Volkswagen Rabbit with an MSRP of $3,599. Why spend $500 on A/C that would rob me of 3–5 MPG? So what if it was hot and muggy? While others idled in gas rationing lines, I breezed past them — windows up, of course. Rolling them down would cost MPGs. I took pride in boasting about my superior fuel economy at the water cooler, even if I was doing it in a sweaty suit and tie. Come to think of it, I probably spent more on dry cleaning than I ever would have on the A/C. Hmm.
