‘Big Oil’ and Early Solar: Trying and Failing
By Robert Bradley Jr. -- August 19, 2025
Solar is hardly an infant industry, as documented here and here. And ‘Big Oil’ tried to make it economic a half century ago–and failed. A six-year-old article, “How Big Oil Of The Past Helped Launch The Solar Industry Of Today, by Andrea Hsu tells the story, one that is pertinent today given the bust of the industry (see tomorrow’s post). She begins:
Renewable energy has gotten so cheap that even oil giant Exxon Mobil, which reported $20.8 billion in earnings in 2018, is getting in on the savings. Over the next couple of years, Exxon Mobil will begin purchasing wind and solar power in West Texas, part of a 12-year agreement signed late last year with the Danish energy company Orsted. The plan is to use cheap, clean electricity to power Exxon Mobil’s expanding operations in the Permian Basin, one of the world’s most productive oil fields.
Was this economics or greenwashing? If it was economics, or almost so, the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) was responsible, which allowed an immediate 30 percent tax write-off.
Hsu continues by delving into history:
https://www.masterresource.org/solar-power-history/big-oil-early-solar/
