I once owned a VW bug that came with one of the solar panel battery chargers that plugs into the power recepticle. I wonder if it can be used on my Prius? Anyone have the knowledge? Thanks skmo

 

Yes, but:

1) it will only trickle charge the 12 volt battery
2) unless you did the power point mod, the power points are dead when the car is off. the charger would only charge when the car was on.

 

I wonder why they don't incorporate solar panels into the roof so you can recharge your batteries while it's parking at work?

Maybe safety problem(s) due to the material of the solar panels? Or too many cars like this would cause too much glare onto cars above them (overpass, bridges, etc) or even aircrafts?

I've got a little solar charger but that takes like 8 hours of sunlight to just charge 4 AAA batteries....so probably insignificant for the multitudes of batteries that powers a hybrid. You'd need a decent setup of solar panels some worthwhile juice.

 

Toyota indicated that some upscale models of the 2010 would have solar panels on the roof to assist in powering the AC system. It was not clear whether this was the vehicle was parked or driving.