A graphic artist's rendition of a solar-charged plug-in station with a Toyota Prius PHV plugged in to it.

Looks like Toyota is seeing the future of auto fueling -- and it's sun, sun, and more sun!

The automotive giant is working with a Japanese city to build a network of solar-charged plug-in stations to help power a fleet of Prius PHVs, reports TechOn.Com, an Asian Technology Analysis web site.

The municipal government of Toyota City in Aichi Prefecture, Japan will build 21 stations at 11 places such as the municipal office, its branch offices, train stations, etc. The city plans to start operating the charging stations in April of 2010 with 20 units of the Prius Plug-in Hybrid.

The charging station has a solar photovoltaic system and a power storage system and is connected to the grid. The electricity generated from solar power is stored in the power storage system, and vehicles are charged with photovoltaic electricity and electricity from the storage system. When the stored electricity runs out, grid electricity is used so that vehicles can be stably charged regardless of weather or time of day.

Extra electricity stored in the power storage system is used for the facilities in the station or sold to a utility company.

(SolarChargedDriving.Com Newswire summary posted 12-29-09)