Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota Motor Corp. has this week revealed plans to integrate energy-providing solar panel technology into its forthcoming third generation of Prius cars.
Toyota to introduce solar power technology to its third-generation Prius hybrid. Image: BethAndChristian/Flickr.
However, although the eco-friendly positioning of Toyota’s renowned hybrid will likely be bolstered yet further by the infusion of solar energy, green consumers expecting to receive a breakthrough car powered entirely by energy from the sun should prepare to be disappointed.
Specifically, the Kyocera Corp. solar panels set to be fitted to the new Prius line will be used to help provide the two to five kilowatts of power required for the air-conditioning units equipped on higher-end models of the famous gasoline-electric hybrid car.
It’s a technological addition that an anonymous source close to Toyota referred to as “more of a symbolic gesture.”
Speaking in a Reuters report, the unnamed industry source also went on to say that current solar energy efficiency levels mean that channelling power through the car’s AC system is presently about the limit in terms of effective contribution.
Kentaro Endo, an expert on renewable energy from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Japan, put solar-powered ecological performance into a clearer perspective by outlining that even houses with solar panels covering their roofs “only generate enough energy to run two hairdryers.”
“It’s an interesting idea,” he commented regarding the notion of cars fuelled entirely by the sun, “but it would be very difficult to power a whole car, even with technological advances.”
Apart from limitations related to efficiency, solar panel technology is also seen as a costly power alternative thanks, in the main, to high silicon prices.
The relative production and end-user pricing attached to Kyocera’s Prius panels are currently unknown. Toyota has thus-far declined to issue comment on the matter, choosing to say that it will not be drawn to speak about its future business plans.
The new third-generation Prius is expected to arrive some time in 2009.
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