Purely electric cars may be green, but it's tough to find a parking place close enough to an electrical outlet. But one designer has come up with the perfect solution: solar-powered sculptures that charge your car while you park.


Generally, parking in the sun just means coming back to a boiling hot car. But industrial designer Neville Mars has an idea for harnessing sunlight so it powers your car instead. He suggests installing tree-shaped sculptures in parking lots with giant, photovoltaic leaves to capture solar energy. You can simply park, plug your electrical vehicle into the tree, and return to a cool and fully charged car. It's ultimately more economical and more eco-friendly than building chargers into existing electrical grids, and could even make your parking space more attractive.

Solar Forest [via Inhabitat]