PV Panel plugged into accessory prevents Nav unit shutdown..

This is a quirky thing that happened a couple of times when I parked in full sunlight. I've been keeping a small PV trickle charger plugged into the accessory receptacle on my 2013 Leaf SV, and it prevented me shutting off the navigation unit when powering off the car a couple of times now. I had to unplug the panel from the accessory receptacle to get the Nav unit to shut down. I wonder what ramifications there are to this? My intention is to reduce the charging of the accessory battery by providing some portion of the circuit's demands when the sun is out.

Can you please post a link to your PVTC? Thanks!

Um, the cigarette lighter turns off when you turn the car off. So plugging a solar panel in won't do anything to charge the battery when the car is off.. but it will fake the nav into thinking the ignition/accessory is on because you are back-powering the circuit. Plugging in the solar panel could lead to *increased* drain on the 12V battery because it will keep systems on that should turn off with the ignition, like the nav.

OK Turbo2liter, so if I plug it in during the day while I am running the car, and unplug whenever I stop, I should be able to reduce the frequency of accessory battery charging slightly. And since the accessory circuit is shut off, it won't help charge the battery when I am stopped as I assumed the one on the SL might. I did get the navigation unit to shut down when I unplugged, so I don't think that leaving it plugged in will keep everything up and running once the light source drops below a certain level. If the sunlight is intense enough. It must be pushing enough amperes to hold an electronic switch in an "on" state even though the control system has dropped an input to an "off" state. My biggest concern was how much of my car electronics are still on when this happens. I was wondering if it may create a security issue.

Leaffan, the Sunsei PV trickle charger is one I picked up on sale from Overtons because it worked to charge a back-up video camera battery when I was teaching kayaking. It is meant to attach to a battery and keep it charged while you leave your car parked somewhere for an extended period. Mine came with the accessory plug as well as a set of clamps to attach it to 12volt battery terminals. I have been leaving it on the dashboard, but it slides around a bit more than I would like, so I will probably save it for other purposes. Perhaps I can get it to charge my phone while I'm camping. On to another project..

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_SPM6134579507P?ci_src=184425893&ci_sku=SPM6564458001&sid=IDx20130125xMPAUTx002" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I guess I'm not seeing the point. There is a DC-DC converter that puts out 13+ Volts any time the car is on. The converter is powered from the high voltage battery and will keep the 12V battery topped off while the car is on. Adding a few milliamps from a solar panel when the car is running (if it even reaches a voltage higher than the DC-DC puts out) will not give you any measurable benefit. It's like using a dropper to add water to a pool that is currently being filled with a fire hose. Sure it fills faster, but immeasurably so. It certainly will not affect range whatsoever.

If you want to add the solar panel to the car to charge the 12V battery when the car is off, then you need to connect it to a circuit that has 12V on it even when the car is off. You'll have to splice it in somewhere.

It should be noted that the car itself will automatically charge the 12V battery using power from the lithium pack if you haven't turned the car on in 5 (IIRC) days.

Nope, it is not going to accomplish anything with either the car on or off.

kayakplayer said:

OK Turbo2liter, so if I plug it in during the day while I am running the car, and unplug whenever I stop, I should be able to reduce the frequency of accessory battery charging slightly.

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If you want to trickle charge your 12 volt battery, you should get the spoiler solar panel option. If you didn't buy it as a factory option, the wiring should still be in place if you bought and installed a replacement yourself.

If you don't want to splice in anywhere, you can connect to always_on battery voltage from the OBD connector to back feed. The only reason to do this I can think of, though, is if you didn't opt for the spoiler PV and you want to park for an extended time (months) while plugged into an EVSE (since it won't charge the 12V while plugged in for some reason).

kayakplayer said:

I did get the navigation unit to shut down when I unplugged, so I don't think that leaving it plugged in will keep everything up and running once the light source drops below a certain level. If the sunlight is intense enough. It must be pushing enough amperes to hold an electronic switch in an "on" state even though the control system has dropped an input to an "off" state. My biggest concern was how much of my car electronics are still on when this happens. I was wondering if it may create a security issue. ...

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I don't think that's what's happening at all. I think that the switched part of the 12v bus is being switched off and the nav is simply running directly off your solar panel. If the output isn't adequate, the voltage may be sagging severely...which could damage electronics. I don't think you should use it at all. There's no upside, and maybe a significant risk.

Thanks for all of the information everyone. I'll do like I said and stick with using it for charging things besides the Leaf's accessory battery when I'm away from the grid.