@JohnJBurnsIII I think you're overlooking that they actually did this work, but there wasn't much point in throwing so much money at it with such low returns. That's what they closed their research corps. Exxon had Solar Power Corp and they closed it in 84

https://www.npr.org/2019/09/30/763844598/how-big-oil-of-the-past-helped-launch-the-solar-industry-of-today