Here’s a (weak) justification for including a solar panel on the Prius

Is It?

To-morrow and to-morrow and to-morrow/trickles at this petty pace/to the last Coulomb of saved charge/...Out, out weak battery!/Demand current's but a weak shadow, churning its hour/Midst the struts and springs/And then can provide no more. It is a tale/told by marketing, full of sun and current/Signifying nothing.

chippereng asked: "what is a swell foop? You say you are a technical editor?" A technical editor, methinks, who knows his Shakespeare ! ('Swell foop' is a famous Spoonerism of a phrase from the Scottish Play !)

Harbor Freight (and maybe Radio Shack) have sold PV trickle chargers for use in the [front] window. Comes-in handy up North in the winter. Simply plug it into the lighter and it recharges the battery after driving to work with lights and heater going. The battery is 'topped-off' when you leave work (to drive with lights and heater).

My A8 has a solar roof... Lets me run the A/C with the engine off, which saves gas because I don't have to idle a 450hp engine to run a 3hp A/C pump when it's sweltering hot out. If Toyota adds a trickle charge feature, or an A/C timer to pre-cool your car, then it could turn into a worthwhile savings. Plus, if everyone orders this feature, it spurs R&D into PV cells. I say : "Why not?"

I don't see many new cars being shipped in direct sunlight. They are usually down in the hold, chained next to each other. Or, for expensive cars, in containers.

Hey, did you spot that the top Audi modeld did feature solar panel since ten years or more? They are used to run the fan whenever the car is parked in direct sunlight so that it does not heat up as much. This probably saves a lot more energy as if you were trying to run the airconditioning from the PV-panel. Clever, its an Audi and most likely Toyota is a copy...

Yes, it''s called "charging the battery" for future use. The Aptera electric and hybrid cars have the same feature and it is very well justified.

Rather than run the a/c in my Prius (it's so wasteful!), I just keep a dozen cold ones in my freezer.

I understand an average daily commute in US is under 40 miles. Now take out a few major cities and that will drop to under 10. My commute is about 4.5 mi a day and the car sits under the open sky for 8-11 hours. If that time is enough to recharge my battery and cool the car down a little when it's hot and I don't have to plug it in or run gasoline engine and have zero emissions and extra convenience. Is that worth the added cost? Maybe, especially if I can sell my emissions credits to the SUV drivers :)

what is a swell foop? You say you are a technical editor?

Depending on how they implement this they may be able to precondition the car. They could have a temperature sensor in the car if it is sitting in the sun and generating power and the interior temperature is high that a blower would kick in and circulate outside air through the vehicle dropping the temperature down so that there would be less energy expended when the owner comes and starts the car as the temperature has already been partially moderated by just the use of a blower fan.

Ah yes...The Buffalo 6/60 air conditioning...6 cranks down on the window at 60mph...Alternatively in the rust belt you just wait for the Prius floor to rot out and you have continuous air conditioning.

If I remember the VW Bug had a "portable" solar panel which plugged into the lighter and trickle charged the battery -- and they could recycle these for shipping so I am not sure about that justification. I do note, however, that if I have to sit in our Prius and wait for my wife to get out of work, even just "idling" and running the radio can run the main battery down pretty quick, so many times after 20 minutes or so the engine would normally kick back on to charge the battery but I hate to idle a car just for the radio. So I normally turn the car off and sit with the radio off .

Solatec has had an equivalent PV system in development for 2 years for the Prius at approximately 1/2 the cost. The prototype currently has Konarka panels installed and they do indeed feed into the aux. battery whaenever the roof is exposed to sunlight. Although our gas savings on the prototype is only about 4 mpg, we are quite satisfied with the performance and reliability. Expect a production announcement soon.

Up here in Sunny Buffalo NY we got that air-conditioning puzzle solved long ago We roll down the window :)