The internet is buzzing this morning with a report from the Nikkei business daily newspaper in Japan that Toyota plans to add solar panels to the next generation Prius, in addition to its plug-in capability.

Most of the comments seem to be skeptical of the amount of value adding the panels can bring, but Canadian engineer Steve Lapp can provide actual data since he modified his 2001 Prius back in 2005 to include solar panels on the roof. His initial three panel system generated around 270W, but he was hoping to boost that to 360W with the addition of a fourth panel.

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