Prius was introduced in 1997 and has since sold more than 1 million vehicles worldwide. The car was redesigned in 2003, and a third generation has been widely expected to appear soon.
The move would make Toyota the first major automaker to incorporate a solar-power generation system into a mass-produced car.
Toyota plans to install solar panels on the roof of the next generation of Prius hybrid
cars, according to a report in Monday’s edition of the Nikkei newspaper.
The panels, which are expected to begin appearing on the high-end version of the gasoline-electric hybrid car as early as next spring, will supply part of the 2 to 5 kilowatts needed to power the air conditioning, MarketWatch cited the Japanese business daily as reporting. Kyocera will reportedly supply the panels.