TECRE collaborated with Northeastern University and NuVant Systems to demonstrate the repurposing of Toyota hybrid vehicle traction batteries for solar energy storage. This demonstration pop-up house was built on the Northeastern University campus by students and interns.

Two 325 watt solar panels were installed that charge a 1.3 kWh NiMH battery created from Toyota Prius modules.  

The appliances and lights are powered by solar panels and reconditioned hybrid vehicle batteries.
Eugene Smotkin’s lab group (consisting of Northeastern University graduate students, MassCEC interns (Yue Li and Marlon Michel), and a NuVant Systems scientist, Jon Doan) standing in front of a solar panel demonstration unit built on Northeastern University’s campus.
Basic wiring diagram for solar panel demonstration unit using a repurposed Toyota Prius battery.

The repurposing of the Toyota hybrid vehicle battery was demonstrated in the pop-up house.  The interns, working with Tito Kayak, then installed the system on a house in Utuado Puerto Rico.  The film, “Powering Puerto Rico”, produced by Northeastern University documented this extraordinary work.  

Work on the solar shed served as a critical precursor step to the conception of the Yellow Zone Initiative. The energy conversion, storage, and deployment offered by this system can be deployed directly in Puerto Rican households to ensure a stable source of power when grid infrastructure fails.