Bobby Fletcher, owner of Fletcher's Amoco in Olney, estimates that he saves about 10 percent to 15 percent on his electricity bills each month, thanks to the new "thin-film" solar panels that glisten on the canopy over the pumps.
BP Amoco PLC spent about $30,000 to build and install the panels at the Georgia Avenue station. Company officials hail the solar panels, lined in 12 rows of 12, as the first thin-film panels in use at a gas station in the United States.
Fletcher of Olney is a believer in the importance of his business' public image.
"It's nice because we operate a community business and it's been rewarding to hear the feedback from people," said Fletcher, 37, who took over his father's now 41-year-old business in 1987. BP Amoco built the solar-powered station on Fletcher's property adjacent to the old station, which now is Fletcher's auto repair and car wash. The new station opened Sept. 27.
"People always complain about gas stations for the pollution and odor, so it's nice to be doing something a little bit green for once," he said.
Fletcher might be surprised to hear that many of his customers never noticed the solar panels; he said he thinks some people are drawn to the station because it enhances the appearance.
Burtonsville resident Pete Margus pulled into Fletcher's Amoco in Olney last week to refuel. Little did Margus know that as he pumped his gas, 144 solar panels were catching the sunlight and converting it into electricity overhead.
"Where are they?" asked Margus, 48, squinting upward. "I just needed gas."
One customer said he is a regular weekly patron of the station, although he attributed convenience as more of a factor than the lure of the solar panels.
"I like the idea here and I do use solar panels at my home," said Gene Henley of Sandy Spring.
Albert Anton, a partner in the New York City investment brokerage firm Carl H. Pforzheimer & Co., said he, too, likes the idea.
"Installing solar panels at a gas station could have to do with testing panels, it could be a public relations gesture to show they are environmentally friendly or it could be a business investment," Anton said. "It's probably a marginal investment in the Baltimore area because you wouldn't have as high of a return as you would in say, Arizona."
Good public relations from using solar panels could translate into more business for Fletcher's Amoco, Anton said.
