I am taking a 2 week business trip soon and will have to leave my car parked.

I have a solar panel charger that came with my VW in 2006. It is made to plug into the OBD-II port and keep the battery charged if the car is sitting for a long time.

Would this work in my TCH? If not, could I cut the OBD plug off and put a cig lighter plug on it and charge the car that way?

Any thought on this?

 

The solar panel charger would be for 12 volt battery. I thought I read the 12 volt deep cycle battery is charged from the traction battery. Although it's the 12 volt battery that boots up the cars computer so the car will start.

 

You should be okay for 2 weeks ...YMMV... (although the manual will warn you).
Best to have a friend 'exercise' it if you'll be away.

 

Last winter (Massachusetts) I left my 2008 Camry parked for three weeks. I was a little concerned but it started up the same as when I drive it daily.

 

Our 2007 TCH has been parked multiple times for two to three weeks, and at least once for five weeks, with no issues. No evidence at all that either the 12V battery or the traction battery was low.

 

Using a solar panel to keep the 12 v battery "topped off" sounds like a good idea to me.

Every bit of charge you can put on the 12 v battery is energy you do not have to take from the "big" battery and, thus, is energy available to propel the car. No matter how small it is, it is ultimately a gas savings. And the sunshine is free. How can you loose.

As the old song says,
".....The sunbeams that shine -
they're yours, they're mine...
The sun belongs to everyone........
It's put there for you and me
....
The best things in life are free !"

Even better, if you already own the equipment, that's just as good as free, too.

I hope the OBD connector bit works out. Power to the cig lighters is off when the car is turned off. We might have to do some wiring to get an always live connection to the 12 v.

As for me, I would consider buying a solar unit like this, if this works out; so, please post on success or failure.

 

Yes, keeping solar power generator is a good idea. Because your car will have energy. I hope that you can also help me in building solar panel in my car.

 

Can you help me in my problem about building up a solar panel in my car? Please give me suggestions and information about that certain topic. Sunpowerport Solar Generator