If this is in the wrong forum, please move it. As people may or may not remember from months ago, I went to a lot of trouble and waited a long time (and paid extra) to find a Prius Plugin (XSE Premium, 2025) with a solar charging roof. Because I have no place to plug a car in where I currently live, my car is parked outdoors in the sun in Southern California, and I don't drive a lot. I finally got one this past July. At first the solar charging roof worked. Of course it did not add a lot of charge, perhaps 2 or 3 miles per day. But adding some was worth it to me. Now it does not work at all though. The charge level is not increased at all from sitting in the sun. Even multiple days sitting in direct sunlight without driving, no charge added at all. Have others who had that feature experienced it stopped working after a few months? I assume it is covered by the warranty? Yet if I bring it to my local dealer service dept., I'm sure they would have no idea how to repair it? Can they order a new solar charging roof and replace it? Once again, have others experienced this? TIA
It may be that the shorter daytime hours are causing the negative effect as we approach winter solstice. Between that & the way many car's parasitic loss can drain a system, a solar panel just allows a break even effect
^ That and you can't point that panel into the sun. The shorter daylight hours and sun's lower angle is going to greatly impact that array's output. It's supposed to be a 200W array and people who checked output stated it only generates 180W at high noon - assuming that's the best your going to get, you still need to subtract the electronics that needs to be powered to get that into the battery. As I've stated in other post, gimmicky at best and considering electricity only cost less than $0.20/KwH, the numbers don't pencil out for that option. The car is under warranty and it's a legitimate dealer option, so there should be a valid dealership test procedure for it. Good Luck......
if it sits all day for multiple sunny days without adding any charge whatsoever, and the dealer can replicate it, they can diagnose it and repair it.
What's your latitude? Is there a south-facing hill you can park on in the winter months, to try to reduce the angle difference θ between the panel's normal and the sun, so the cos θ factor in the power developed won't be as small?
I don't know the latitude number. But Southern California Los Angeles area. Very sunny lately. Yes, shorter days than a couple months ago. But still much sun. So I'm pretty sure it's not working, with it not adding any charge at all lately.
Yes, I guess so. They might have to keep it multiple days in the sun to replicate it? As it is a rare feature though, I don't know that they will know how to repair it? But it is their obligation under warranty to repair it somehow? (Can that roof be replaced? Order a replacement roof which could take months to receive?) Once again, anyone else who has that roof had it stop working?
Check that the traction battery has at least 5% SOC. It won’t work with 0% SOC or less. Make sure that the solar panel is entirely clean and no parts of it are in the shade. Sometimes, when it is too hot outside, like the last few days here in Southern California, the solar panel will not work due to the high-vehicle-interior-temperature protection. There could also be a malfunction in the solar-charging system.
Los Angeles latitude is around 34° north. Earth tilts by around 23° (I'm gonna say, somebody could look up a more official figure). So in late June, your noonday sun hits the panel at 34 − 23, or about 11° away from straight up (when the car is parked level). In late September, noon was 34° from straight up, and in late December it'll be 34 + 23, or 57° from straight up. The power a panel can collect from sunlight is the power arriving in the sunlight times the cosine of that angle (then times the panel's efficiency, of course). If we pretend there's the same solar power arriving and the panel's efficiency doesn't change, then just the factor having to do with the angle varies from cos 11° ≈ 0.98 in late June, through cos 34° ≈ 0.83 in late September, to cos 57° ≈ 0.54 in late December. Around Los Angeles. So the angle difference alone limits what you can collect in winter to a little over half what you can in summer, even before taking into account the fewer hours of sunlight.
Do you have window visors and keep the windows down about a quarter inch? I do that for all my cars. It lets the heat out of the interior so your pack doesn't get heat stroke. The interior cabin temperture isn't going to damage the pact, but when you start drawing current; it's going to get hotter faster. Also easier on the AC unit since it relieves some of the cabin heat build-up.
no one has reported any malfunctions here until yours. the dealer and toyota are obligated to repair it by law or buy it back from you. if the dealer can't figure it out, they work with toyota, who will send a field agent out if necessary. don't hesitate to make an appointment and take it in, they should provide a free loaner.
It's fair to expect that none of the techs at a given dealership will know offhand how to take care of that, but I wouldn't worry too much: Toyota develops very good repair instructions for their techs to follow. They are relatively used to doing whatever the manual says and coming back with positive results.
It's a fun option if you have the money. It reminds me of the tiny solar cell I got in an electronics kit, back when I was a kid. It couldn't do anything practical, but it could move the needle on a meter. Very exciting.
