BP Solar is going to be no more. According to this article, BP is calling it quits on solar power after decades in the game.
I visited BP’s Maryland factory about 15 years ago. I met with their President who proceeded to tell me that it was OK that they were losing hundreds of millions of dollars because it was still cheaper for BP than a big ad campaign stating they were “green”. Such “in your face” greenwashing, I had never encountered, yet it was a reality-check as to why an oil company would be involved in solar power.
Were they trying to advance implementation? Not really.
Were they trying to advance the state of the art? Not at all.
Did they ever really care? Who knows.
With this further reduction in the uncompetitive field, the continuing consolidation of “me too” players, and the introduction of mammoth capacities by companies like GE and Panasonic, the solar panel is finally becoming like the microchip…a product dominated by a few main players, a couple of niche players…and that’s about it. The recent price drops have been very instrumental in helping companies understand that a me-t00 approach only gets you so far during the good times, yet it kills you in the tough ones.
Stay tuned…I suspect we’ll see more and more announcements like this to close out the calendar year.