Prius as UPS [RE-wrenches]

[Mick Abraham]

Carl Adams wrote:

"The customer is intrigued by the idea of using his Prius as the
battery bank. (for a Sunny Island under consideration).

Mick says: Amory Lovins' Rocky Mountain Institute had speculated about 
using the "supercar of the future" in a manner similar to Carl's 
description. It's a keen idea, but...

heres a link for info on the Prius batteries of various model years:

http://www.eaa-phev.org/wiki/Toyota_Prius_Battery_Specs

Note the high voltage/low ampacity characteristics, and remember that 
Sunny Island is designed for a 48 volt (nominal) battery. The Prius uses 
hundreds of "flashlight sized" batteries all wired in series. One should 
not (even temporarily) connect these cells into parallel strings at 
lower voltage, because ni-mh is widely known to be unsuitable for 
charging strings of cells connected in parallel.

The person behind the "priUPS" website that Carl referenced got hold of 
an "unterruptible power supply" designed for high voltage batteries in 
order to get an inverter for high voltage DC input. Here's a link:

http://www.priups.com/misc/update-2005-06-1.htm

A high voltage UPS seems more appropriate for the Prius battery string 
than a Sunny Island, except for the code problem of a high voltage 
battery connected to a building, and except for the problem of trying to 
properly charge costly ni-mh cells using a UPS that was actually 
intended for lead acid...

One more point: Since the Prius cells are only rated for 6.5 amp hours, 
100% discharge would provide less than two kilowatt-hours of stored 
energy before the hybrid engine would need to crank up.

Mick Abraham, Proprietor
www.abrahamsolar.com


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