Looking for battery back-up options-Will Prius battery work

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Vick
Vick Registered Users Posts: 1
in Off Grid Solar & Battery Systems #1
Recently installed 10K system on-grid and looking for battery back-up options. Would a Prius car battery work?
How is connection made? Actually looking at Prius plug in-which I could plug in during day using solar power. At night if grid is down -how would I convert my Prius battery to run certain appliances?
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,439 admin
    #2
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    Re: Looking for battery back-up options-Will Prius battery work

    Yes, there are several methods to use a Prius as a UPS battery source.

    One is to get a larger UPS from a computer room that can work with the ~180 VDC nominal battery bank--And wire it to the Prius traction battery bank.

    Another is to connect a 12 volt (smaller) off grid AC inverter to the 12 volt aux battery bank. This battery is kept charge from the traction battery.

    Using a Prius as a generator
    Using an Inverter/Battery system as whole-house backup
    UPS as an inverter / charger for off grid system
    High voltage off grid

    Those should get you started... Note that working with any large and/or high voltage battery bank is extremely dangerous unless you know exactly what you are doing... Of course, there is always the possibly of damaging your Prius/Prius battery or affecting your factory warranty.

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #3
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    Re: Looking for battery back-up options-Will Prius battery work

    not much issue in a detached garage, but if the battery gets low, and the engine starts up for a recharge, you may have Carbon Monoxide issues to deal with.
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,

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  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #4
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    Re: Looking for battery back-up options-Will Prius battery work
    Vick wrote: »
    Recently installed 10K system on-grid and looking for battery back-up options. Would a Prius car battery work?
    How is connection made? Actually looking at Prius plug in-which I could plug in during day using solar power. At night if grid is down -how would I convert my Prius battery to run certain appliances?

    Keep in mind that any such battery back-up system will require its own inverter: your existing grid-tie inverter can not be powered from any sort of battery. Nor would it be simple to adapt it to recharge any battery. It is not as easy as buying a Prius and plugging it in to add battery storage to the GT set-up.
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  • dxta
    dxta Registered Users Posts: 1 ✭
    #5
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    If the setup works, it would be perfect!
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