Next Prius to have solar panels on roof
 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080706/bs_nm/toyota_dc

Toyota Motor Corp plans to install solar panels on its next-generation Prius hybrid cars, becoming the first major automaker to use solar power for a vehicle, the Nikkei business daily reported on Monday.

The paper said Toyota would equip solar panels on the roof of the high-end version of the Prius when it redesigns the gasoline-electric hybrid car early next year, and the power generated by the system would be used for the air conditioning.

Toyota plans to use solar panels made by Kyocera Corp, the Nikkei said.

Re: Next Prius to have solar panels on roof
 

It's about time somebody thought of using the roof surface like this. A few years ago, Audi put a small solar panel in the A6 roof to power a fan which kept interior air flowing when the vehicle was parked.

Sounds to me like it should be a standard feature on EVERY vehicle, especially dark colored ones.