YellowLite Solar in Cleveland, Ohio, is working on solar installations at gas stations.

It’s not as funny as it sounds. British Petroleum started a solar division in the early 2000s, said Ali Buttar with YellowLite. When the oil and gas giant launched its thin-film solar business, it set out to clad a number of its canopies at American gas stations with thin-film solar panels.

The project was a great success when it first got off the ground in 2002 and 2003, Buttar said.

“A few years down the road, they all started having problems,” Buttar said.

The early equipment didn’t hold up, and the transformer finally stopped working, he said.

Lehigh Gas owns and operates eight to 10 BP gas stations outfitted with the solar panels, Buttar said.

YellowLite worked on one of the stations located in Parma, Ohio.

“It was basically a retrofit,” he said.

They checked the 400 thin-film panels on the canopies at the Parma station and installed new transformers. The panels are again producing clean solar power for the gas station and helping Lehigh to offset utility costs.

Buttar said the Ohio solar installer is working on finishing up project certifications. When everything is finished with this first gas station, YellowLite hopes to secure new contracts with Lehigh to retrofit its other solar-clad BP stations.

The commercial installation is one in a growing list of new projects YellowLite is taking. The company just got started in 2009.

“There really weren’t any high-quality solar integrators up here in Northeast Ohio,” Buttar said. “There were no craftsmen, and that’s really what we wanted to be.”

The company has been growing, owner Cody Cooper said.

Buttar said there were some tough times after the competitive $3 per watt solar rebate ran out in November 2010. The market has stabilized now, and things are looking up for YellowLite. The company is now a certified dealer for SunPower.

“This year, 2011, is definitely the best year yet,” Buttar said.