Solar panel - cooling the car?

The solar panel is supposed to charge the 12V, right - but isn't it also supposed to help cool the car in the summer when it's parked? Does it actually do anything?

Nope, all it does is a (very minimal) trickle charge of the 12 volt battery...

strombo1 said:

The solar panel is supposed to charge the 12V, right - but isn't it also supposed to help cool the car in the summer when it's parked? Does it actually do anything?

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This might help.

http://www.amazon.com/Kulcar-Solar-Powered-Ventilator-Version/dp/B00J97X2YG/ref=pd_sim_cps_5?ie=UTF8&refRID=1ZFQH5WJ3FE916RTXFVT" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

strombo1 said:

The solar panel is supposed to charge the 12V, right - but isn't it also supposed to help cool the car in the summer when it's parked?

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Re: the bolded part, you're probably confusing the Leaf w/the available solar roof on the Prius, which can power the ventilation fan, while parked.

Saab also offered a solar ventilator, IIRC.

Thanks! Hmm. Wonder where I got that from. Couldn't be the knowledgeable dealer, could it? :mrgreen:

strombo1 said:

Thanks! Hmm. Wonder where I got that from. Couldn't be the knowledgeable dealer, could it? :mrgreen:

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May have been some pre-production marketing back in 2010 or 2009.
(right along with the 100 mile range)

Dealer told my cousin when buying his SL that it ran all 12 v accessories while driving on a sunny day and that since the AC was 12 v it would run that too. I laughed told him it couldn't, it was too small. He insisted that you'd see extra range, ie no range hit from using AC in an SL vs an SV.

If that was possible from that tiny panel we would all have home solar already!

minispeed said:

Dealer told my cousin when buying his SL that it ran all 12 v accessories while driving on a sunny day and that since the AC was 12 v it would run that too. I laughed told him it couldn't, it was too small. He insisted that you'd see extra range, ie no range hit from using AC in an SL vs an SV.

If that was possible from that tiny panel we would all have home solar already!

Click to expand...

The A/C compressor runs on 12V? Is that true? I had assumed it ran on the HV battery. A 12V compressor would require an awful lot of current...

GetOffYourGas said:

minispeed said:

Dealer told my cousin when buying his SL that it ran all 12 v accessories while driving on a sunny day and that since the AC was 12 v it would run that too. I laughed told him it couldn't, it was too small. He insisted that you'd see extra range, ie no range hit from using AC in an SL vs an SV.

If that was possible from that tiny panel we would all have home solar already!

Click to expand...

The A/C compressor runs on 12V? Is that true? I had assumed it ran on the HV battery. A 12V compressor would require an awful lot of current...

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HV not 12V

EVDRIVER said:

HV not 12V

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That's what I've always assumed.

As for cooling the car, a car parked in the summer sun can get much MUCH hotter than the outside air. All that panel really needs to do is run the vent fans to cycle the air. If a product (linked above) can be inserted into the side window to ventilate air, all with a panel 1/3-1/2 the size of the Leaf's, why can't the Leaf's panel circulate air? I suspect it's not that it can't, just that it doesn't.

GetOffYourGas said:

minispeed said:

Dealer told my cousin when buying his SL that it ran all 12 v accessories while driving on a sunny day and that since the AC was 12 v it would run that too. I laughed told him it couldn't, it was too small. He insisted that you'd see extra range, ie no range hit from using AC in an SL vs an SV.

If that was possible from that tiny panel we would all have home solar already!

Click to expand...

The A/C compressor runs on 12V? Is that true? I had assumed it ran on the HV battery. A 12V compressor would require an awful lot of current...

Click to expand...

I'm not sure what it runs on but the dealer insisted it was 12v and would thus run off the 12v solar panel while you were driving on a sunny day.

minispeed said:

...the dealer insisted....

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Many of life's most amusing stories begin with "The dealer said....". :lol:

The one on the Prius works well, but its 3 or 4 times the size of the one on the LEAF. Someone measured the output early on and it was sub 10 watts as I recall. Not enough to run the fans...or even keep the 12v battery up reliably.

About as useful as teats on a bull.

Nubo said:

minispeed said:

...the dealer insisted....

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Many of life's most amusing stories begin with "The dealer said....". :lol:

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Indeed. Last weekend I went to the local VW dealer to check out the eGolf. The dealer told me that the difference between "regenerative" braking and "recuperative" braking was that one used the electric motor to recharge the battery, while the other downshifted the car into a lower gear, and used engine braking, without charging the battery. :?

I didn't have the heart to correct him in, so I just let it be. In hindsight, I probably should have since he will probably share this "knowledge" with other less-informed customers :roll: