Using solar + battery to charge? PIP 2012

Discussion in 'Gen 1 Prius Plug-in 2012-2015' started by Noah L, May 21, 2024.

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  1. Noah L

    Noah L New Member

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    Hey all,

    I don't have any easily accessible plugs for me to charge my PIP (my apartments on the second floor so it would just be awkward to throw extension cables out the window and over the stairs.) I have been trying to see if there are any portable battery solutions that accept solar panels (Like Jackery system) to charge the EV battery. I have seen videos of people using a jackery solar setup to charge a tesla but I have not seen any definite (and simple) setups for a PIP. I would really like a compact setup that will charge while im at work since our parking lot is very open (and fenced gated and guarded) and I would be able to soak up a lot of sunlight while im in the office just to squeeze a little more distance out of my prius for my drives home. I believe ECO Flow has similar setups but their batteries are outrageous expensive. any info on possibilities would be helpful.
     
    #1 Noah L, May 21, 2024
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    what's the jackery, around 3k? i don't think it makes sense just to add 10 or 12 miles a day of ev.
     
    #2 bisco, May 21, 2024
  3. Noah L

    Noah L New Member

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    That is with the expectation of getting the $3,000 pack which is definitely not what I would like to pay. Mostly I just want to know if these battery packs would even work to charge up the EV battery at all. Plus every mile counts when I have to drive nearly 150 miles a day for a round trip to work and home especially when I can use up those pure EV miles on stop and go traffic.
     
    #3 Noah L, May 22, 2024
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    There is a way to make solar work with car charging.
    I’ve read about it but not carefully enough to understand or remember.
    Something about the inverter I think. Google may help
     
    #4 bisco, May 22, 2024
  5. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    Screenshot 2024-05-22 at 6.10.35 PM.png

    From those specs, you'd need about three of these to get one full charge into the Prime. That's the big one on wheels like a sports cooler.

    EDIT: didn't realize you meant the older PIP. Would still take 2+ charges of the power station to charge up the car.
     
    #5 Leadfoot J. McCoalroller, May 22, 2024
    Last edited: May 22, 2024
  6. LithiumMan

    LithiumMan Junior Member

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    In my backseat I have Jackery 2000+ with one add-on 2000+ battery pack for a total of 4 kWh. So, when driving to a destination where I spend some time, I run the Prius charging cord out the back window into the charging port. I also am implementing a 240V charging option so it will charge from the Jackery at twice the speed (10A at 240V - 2400W). My 2017 Prime now has about 50K miles running on pure electric, so capacity of the stock 6 kWh battery is down about 20%. Adding up to 15 mi with my add-on battery system really helps.
     
    #6 LithiumMan, Jun 4, 2025
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  7. LeviSmith

    LeviSmith Member

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    Your problem is "compact". that's going to pretty much rule out any sort of sizable solar power unless your definition is a bit open minded...
    And "simple" is going to get considerably less than very quickly...
    I've got like the minimum Ecoflow battery that was like $500. I could plug my PIP into that but it would die very quickly. I can also plug solar into it, but it can only handle I wanna say like 500 watts. (so there's already problems). Even then, I bought a couple used 300w solar panels for $65 each, but I'm about positive they are too big to fit in the Pip...

    You could get a lower power EVSE, this one goes down to 6A


    But you're probably still going to need at least $1K for a battery pack that could take in 1KW of solar and/or has more battery capacity...

    And you're still going to need somewhere in the neighborhood of 6+ square feet of solar panels...


    Roughly speaking from my limited knowledge...

    Levi
     
    #7 LeviSmith, Jun 5, 2025
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