By the late 1970s, just five years after testing the first low temperature solar thermal collectors, Northrup Energy had become the preeminent developer of solar thermal technology.
This attracted the attention of investors, and suitors, including the Atlantic Richfield Company, “ARCO”.
ARCO's Chairman, Robert O Anderson was personally interested in solar technology and visited the Northrup Energy facility.
Northrup, Inc. merged with Atlantic Richfield, and ARCO Ventures changed its name to ARCO Solar.
The Northrup Energy team under Floyd Blake and Jerry Anderson went on to design and build some of the first commercial solar power tower installations, notably "Solar One" near Barstow, California.
 The heat from another project was used to generate steam for tertiary oil recovery in Kern County, California and for electric power generation.
Some heliostats were built to directly track the sun with arrays of photovoltaic cells to generate power for the utility grid, near Hesperia, California.
 The seven million watt installation near Barstow was later dismantled and shipped to Europe's first commercial solar thermal power station.
This unit was the largest solar electric power generation facility in the world.
Northrup and Blake were then featured in a documentary on solar energy, Harnessing the Sun, narrated by actress Joan Hackett.

 ARCO Solar increasingly concentrated on the development of solar photovoltaic systems and was subsequently sold first to Seimens, then to British Petroleum (now "BP"), where BP Solar became the largest solar photovoltaic company in the world.

Northrup’s designs and work in flat plate solar thermal collectors, east–west tracking collectors and heliostats are still in use today and serve as the foundations of solar thermal technology.
To acknowledge Prof. John Yellott's contributions to the advancements of solar thermal systems, Northrup endowed a chair at Arizona State in Yellott's honor.
Northrup has, in turn, been honored for his contributions to the commercialization of solar technologies by the American Institute of Architects and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers.
By the late 1970s, just five years after testing the first low temperature solar thermal collectors, Northrup Energy had become the preeminent developer of solar thermal technology. This attracted the attention of investors, and suitors, including the Atlantic Richfield Company, “ARCO”. ARCO's Chairman, Robert O Anderson was personally interested in solar technology and visited the Northrup Energy facility. Northrup, Inc. merged with Atlantic Richfield, and ARCO Ventures changed its name to ARCO Solar. The Northrup Energy team under Floyd Blake and Jerry Anderson went on to design and build some of the first commercial solar power tower installations, notably "Solar One" near Barstow, California.  The heat from another project was used to generate steam for tertiary oil recovery in Kern County, California and for electric power generation. Some heliostats were built to directly track the sun with arrays of photovoltaic cells to generate power for the utility grid, near Hesperia, California.  The seven million watt installation near Barstow was later dismantled and shipped to Europe's first commercial solar thermal power station. This unit was the largest solar electric power generation facility in the world. Northrup and Blake were then featured in a documentary on solar energy, Harnessing the Sun, narrated by actress Joan Hackett.
 ARCO Solar increasingly concentrated on the development of solar photovoltaic systems and was subsequently sold first to Seimens, then to British Petroleum (now "BP"), where BP Solar became the largest solar photovoltaic company in the world.
Northrup’s designs and work in flat plate solar thermal collectors, east–west tracking collectors and heliostats are still in use today and serve as the foundations of solar thermal technology. To acknowledge Prof. John Yellott's contributions to the advancements of solar thermal systems, Northrup endowed a chair at Arizona State in Yellott's honor. Northrup has, in turn, been honored for his contributions to the commercialization of solar technologies by the American Institute of Architects and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers.
Leonard L. Northrup Jr.