The town of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin is greening its school bus fleet.

The bus company that serves Oconomowoc's school district now owns 11 plug-in hybrid school buses, Milwaukee's Journal-Sentinel reports. Not only will the buses use electric power to save fuel - they will be juiced up with the help of solar energy. Oconomowoc Transport Co. operates the state's first solar-electric charging station.

The hybrid buses cost about the same as regular buses but will have 50 percent better fuel economy. Typical school buses get about seven miles per gallon, but the plug-in hybrids will boost that to 12.

"It's a little glimpse of the future; it's very impressive," Oconomowoc assistant superintendent Mike Barry was quoted as saying.

According to the Wisconsin Office of Energy Independence - which helped unveil the new buses on August 25 - plug-in hybrid buses cost less to maintain than conventional buses and produce 30 to 40 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions. Soon, school bus companies across the nation could adopt Oconomowoc Transport Co.'s lead and green their fleets with solar energy.