You know that the times are changing when even the worst fossil fuel companies start investing in renewables. Here’s 4 unexpected companies you would never guess are getting into in solar.

1. Coal India

No one, not even the world’s largest coal-mining company, can escape the solar energy revolution that is sweeping across India.

Owned by the Indian Government, Coal India ignored the first word in their brand and announced plans to set up 1 GW of solar capacity across the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The $1.2 billion investment came after the government increased their solar capacity target five-fold.

2. Adani

The huge Indian conglomerate that has it’s eyes on opening up mines, ports and shipping highways through the Great Barrier Reef has a track-record of illegal construction and environmental damage.

But even Adani can’t resist the temptation of solar power – they just signed an agreement with the Rajasthani Government to build a 10,000 MW “solar park” by 2022, making it India’s largest.

3. Shell

They may have helped burn enough fossil fuels to melt the Arctic, but even Shell chose wind & solar as the best way to power their Cutter platform in the UK.

4. Chevron

Yep, you read that right. The global oil giants can’t ingnore the solar revolution.

They transformed one of their outdated oil refineries in California into a testing site for 7 different photovoltaic solar technologies – installing 7,700 panels. On their website they say the interest in renewable energy was driven by “volatile oil prices”.

Next they just have to realise that all of their fossil fuel sites are out of date.

Read more about why fossil fuel companies need to keep fossil fuels in the ground in our in-depth report: Unburnable Carbon