Turning Oil Refineries Into Solar Labs: Even Chevron Is On Board!

Chevron, one of world’s largest oil producers, is turning an old oil refinery into a solar power research center.  The site near Bakersfield, California, has 7,700 solar panels on it from various manufacturers.  The idea is to test the panels production and reliability over time.

So of course the question is: why?  Is Chevron thinking about a foray into renewables?  It certainly wouldn’t be the first time that big oil has turned to the sun for energy.  In fact in the 90′s the industry was dominated by oil companies like BP, Shell, and others.  The results of these experiments were mixed and many of the companies sold or closed their solar operations. 

Still, its a good thing when we see a site that was primarily known for creating pollutants now generating clean power.  That is progress I can buy into….  Check out the original SFGate article here.