Toyota is currently developing a car that will be powered solely by solar energy in an effort to turn around its struggling business with a totally sustainable energy car.

According to newspapers, it will be years before the planned vehicle will be available on the market. Toyota’s offices were closed Thursday and officials were not immediately available for comment. According to The Nikkei, Toyota is working on an electric vehicle that will get some of its power from solar cells equipped on the vehicle, and that can be recharged with electricity generated from solar panels on the roofs of homes. The automaker later hopes to design a model totally powered by solar cells on the vehicle, the newspaper said without citing sources. The planned solar car is part of efforts by Japan’s top automaker to grow during the global economic crisis.

Toyota is a world leader in green technology and their executives have said that they won’t cut back on environmental research despite current financial troubles.