solar powered secondary AC system for keeping cabin and battery temps down

The only nuance with this is that it's not a factory setup for the V so I would have to manually put the recirculate mode vent off assuming it stays in that position for the air diverter so that way it pulls fresh air from outside. Id really like to see where the wiring goes for the toyota solar vent control box. If I get down the rabbit hole far enough I will dig up the wiring diagrams on here, gonna try a simpler approach first.

 

This should lower the power requirements by a lot as I priced out a 200W panel. I could probably get away with a 100W and use ot to keep the 12V battery topped off with a LVD switch like I mentioned earlier.

 

You know I wish I could fabricate a panel on the rear spoiler...that would be a great spot for it.

 

I think going with simplicity and more options for.panels I can just get a foldable for the dash and face the sun. The cramic coat on the windshield will undoubtedly reduce the panels effectiveness but a large foldout panel should still work.

 

I just did ceramic tint on the windshield, 50%. 35% on the front windows, I wanna say I have 20-15% on the rear. Huge difference, Life changing. I also have a custom fit sunshade for the windshield, not only it has a reflective side but it also has thick foam board it feels like. The current weather conditions will be a real test as the next step is to insulate the roof with sound deadening foil faced closed cell foam. I may not need it but the cost will be way less than the tint job. The material im looking at now is 594mil thickness, it does have foil as I just mentioned. The tint alone has made the AC more efficient, i have a thick blanket I lay in the trunk area, im not 100% convinced it is the reason my battery has been performing better? Maybe insulating it fron the residual cabin heat? I mean the tint alone is what caused that reduction. I need to make these changes slowly with tests in between, to understand what changes made the most efficiency.

Im not really looking forward to stripping the interior for the insulation install.

 

Im assuming everything I do from here on out is for minimal effect, except for the title of this thread of course lol.

 

I have 2012 V, so its a gen 3, but the V never had the solar roof option that I know of.

 

I will focus on exhuming hot air first then, before insulation...if I even follow through with anything else.

 

If youre referring to the solar vent option on the regular prius gen 3 then yes, it would greatly reduce cabin temps. Im assuming its a comfort option as the rest of the car should be able to withstand high temps while parked otherwise they wouldnt have made it an option.