BP Solar - Solar Panel Reviews

About BP Solar

Believe it or not, BP was once the world's leading solar panel manufacturer - but that was a long time ago and the company stopped producing panels in 2010.

Contact Details

There's only one contact point provided for Australian BP solar panel owners to contact the firm these days - an email address, which is [email protected].

Company Info

Through several acquisitions and mergers in the 1980's and 1990's culminating in consolidation, BP Solarex came into being in 1999, renamed to BP Solar in 2001. 

BP was one of the first manufacturers to dabble in monocrystalline cell production, which it demonstrated on a commercial scale line in 2006. 

But the company wasn't able to stay ahead of the pack when it came to costs of production.

In March 2010, BP closed the last of its PV manufacturing operations. The decision was made in the face of increasing competition and pricing pressure from emerging manufacturers in China, such as Suntech.

The firm announced it would axe distribution of residential solar panels and related PV products in July 2011 to focus on large- scale projects.  Then in December the same year, the company decided even utility-scale projects were also no longer viable.

BP Plc re-entered the solar sector in 2017 with an investment in a British company developing and maintaining photovoltaic farms in Europe, but it has never resumed solar manufacturing.

BP Solar Panels In Australia

BP Solar once had a panel factory in the Sydney suburb of Homebush - the largest in the southern hemisphere. It served the local market and exported modules into South-East Asia.  With a capacity of approximately 300 megawatts, the single site accounted for about 17% of BP's total production capacity. It was closed in 2009, with the loss of around 200 jobs.

Warranty Info

BP Solar panels only had a 5 year product warranty, but there was also a 12-year product warranty. If there are any BP panels out there with performance warranty remaining, which is unlikely, there wouldn't be much time left on them. BP advises customers with warranty concerns to first contact their installer. If that brings no joy, try the email address listed above - and good luck.