Solar Panels

Hi Jessica,

I just saw a commercial today for the Toyota Prius. It has an option to get the roof that is actually solar panels to help charge the battery.

I was wondering if Nissan is thinking of doing anything like that? I guess it depends if the cost of the solar panels actually produces enough pwoer to make a difference?

Electric Fan,

I'm not from Nissan :lol:

But I thought I would make a comment... from what I read, the Prius' Solar panels don't actually recharge any panels. They are just to power small fans so that people in hot climates can keep their cars ventilated while they're parked at the mall. Nissan could follow with the Leaf and add panels to keep the car cool, but to me it sounds more like a gimick then something people would actually find that useful.

Here's what I was looking for:

Toyota's third-generation Prius, due at dealerships this spring, will have an optional solar panel on its roof. The panel will power a ventilation system that can cool the car without help from the engine, Toyota says.

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I think it would be nice to have a whole roof side covered in solar cells, but not only for cooling down the cabin, would be nice to choose what we wanna do with that extra power;
either cool the cabin or direct it into batteries, a little extra juice won't hurt :lol:

The solar panel appears to be just on the rear spoiler, so it seems rather small, thus of very limited power-producing capability.

So, it is likely to run fans only to exhaust hot air, and not do any real electric cooling, right?

garygid said:

The solar panel appears to be just on the rear spoiler, so it seems rather small, thus of very limited power-producing capability.

Click to expand...

I have to agree. It is there for marketing and little else. It's power output is going to be negligible.

But they can honestly say the Leaf is "partially solar powereed"!

Even the Prius panel (at best) only puts out 60 watts. It simply runs a vent fan. Get it? Hot day? Sun? vent fan.

The solar panel on the Leaf charges the 12V Accessory battery. That battery runs the radio, at least some lights, etc. It will help charge that battery, but the effect will be very small.

The LEAF will have an available small solar panel on the rear spoiler to help charge the 12V accessory battery.

Thanks,
Jessica

The solar panel might be only 5 or 10 watts, and produce under one amp to charge the 12v battery.

I assume the charge circuit is designed so that it will not over-charge the battery.

Presumably, there is a fan to exhaust overly-hot cabin air (and thus "cool" the batteries), that also runs off the PV panel, when there is sufficient sunshine and the interior is hotter than the outside ambient air.