BP Solar Closes Thin Film Operations [RE-wrenches]

[Joel Davidson]

A Uni-Solar metal roof I did in 1996 for the Combustion Engineering building at
the University of California Irvine campus (co-incidentally where the Honda fuel
cell cars were delivered) is still putting out power to spec. Other Uni-Solar PV
is performing to spec. I don't think any TerraSolar, Cal Solar (Chronar
technology) thin film installations are up to spec. Has anyone looked at their
Solarex (cum Amoco, cum BP) Millennium installations lately to see if they are
to spec?

"Tom Lane, Energy Conservation Services" wrote:

> Is thin film technology a dead end road.  Is it time to abandon thin
> technology as a viable large scale power technology. I would like to know of
> any large scale thin film technology that have monitored results from a
> third party independent source that is more than 5 years old . My suspicions
> are that like the early days of the widespread solar thermal commercial
> cooling systems 1980 to 1985 THAT WERE ALL I REPEAT ALL A MISERABLE FAILURE
> that there has been a cover up of massive failures in this thin film module
> and roofing technology because it is so easy to get government grants for
> this futuristic technology . When I try to get reports on the SOLAR SOURCE
> house in  ATLANTA ( Mr..Primm   sent roger there undercover ) or any  Where
> else that is more than five years old ----- there is no monitoring and no
> one who can give me an answer . Does the emperor have any clothes after five
> years or is this thin film power module  and roofing technology a black hole
> for government funding and organized grant writers to waylay the  growth in
> money coming into the solar industry .  GATOR TOM Message -----
> From: "Joel Davidson" <joeldavidson at earthlink.net>
> To: <RE-wrenches at topica.com>
> Sent: Friday, December 06, 2002 7:14 PM
> Subject: Re: BP Solar Closes Thin Film Operations [RE-wrenches]
>
> > BP announces that it is not "a company with a longer term strategy and
> vision."
> > See http://www.solaraccess.com/news/story?storyid=3207
> >
> > Joel Davidson wrote:
> >
> > > I think the people at NREL are right. See the NCPV Hotline 11-28-2002
> Special
> > > Edition for the National Center for Photovoltaics' statement concerning
> the BP
> > > Solar announcement to stop making thin film at
> > > http://www.nrel.gov/ncpv/hotline.html#latest
> > >
> > > Also see http://www.ecoworld.org/Home/articles2.cfm?TID=259
> > >
> > > I'd like to talk to Sir John Browne, Chairman of BP, about moving the
> thin film
> > > factory equipment to Los Angeles and letting this Yank give it a try.
> Anyone
> > > know his direct phone number?
> > >
> > > Joel Davidson
> > >
> > > Bill Brooks wrote:
> > >
> > > > Joel,
> > > >
> > > > "What a wonderful world this could be...." Ironic isn't it. The good
> news is
> > > > that any money they extorted out of those lawsuits they lost in their
> a-Si
> > > > manufacturing venture when they couldn't make it work. Maybe that's
> what
> > > > just desserts are... I guess sueing wasn't the path to big profits.
> > > >
> > > > Bill.
> > > >
> > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > From: Joel Davidson [mailto:joeldavidson at earthlink.net]
> > > > Sent: Monday, November 25, 2002 6:04 PM
> > > > To: RE-wrenches at topica.com
> > > > Subject: Re: BP Solar Closes Thin Film Operations [RE-wrenches]
> > > >
> > > > Some of you may remember that Solarex sued APS (former owner of the
> > > > Fairfield, CA building that BP now occupies) and sued Siemens Solar
> and sued
> > > > Utility Power Group (Mike Stern's amorphous PV company) for infringing
> on an
> > > > old RCA amorphous silicon PV patent that Solarex had licensed. Solarex
> won
> > > > the law suit, forced those three companies to shut down their aSi
> operations
> > > > and then started pushing Millennium Modules thanks to the $0.75/W
> subsidy
> > > > that Virginia gave to them.
> > >
> > > - - - -
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> > >
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