If you hadn’t noticed from the obvious green theme in Avatar, and if you don’t keep up with director James Cameron news, you probably don’t know that prolific director James Cameron (of Avatar, Titanic, and plenty of other films) is a full-blooded environmentalist now. But I’m telling you, so now you know. 😀
And the latest news from the Cameron tribe (his PR people, I presume) is that Lightstorm Entertainment Inc., Cameron’s film-making company, is going solar.
Word on the street is that Stellar Energy, a large-scale solar energy project developer and systems integrator, has completed a 960-kW solar power project for Lightstorm.
Here’s more from Solar Power World:
“The solar energy system consists of three large roof-mounted photovoltaic arrays and features 3,692 solar modules and three inverters, which produce enough electricity to power LEI’s sound stages and offices at Manhattan Beach Studios (MBS) Media Campus, a state-of-the-art production lot in Manhattan Beach, Calif.
“LEI was determined to harness pure and clean solar energy to power their highly anticipated sequels to AVATAR, the highest grossing film of all time. Adding these solar energy systems to the studio’s rooftops was crucial to making the production of the next AVATAR films as energy efficient as possible.
“The solar modules were installed on the studio’s state of the art sound-proof barrel-shaped roofs, which required a custom designed mounting system to follow the contours of the roof. This design provided maximum power output and minimized roof penetrations. To help retain the limited parking space available at the studio campus, the system’s inverters were installed on the buildings’ roofs. To add to the complexity of the construction process, Stellar Energy worked hand in hand with Raleigh Studios management, and each active sound stage’s production team to ensure that zero disruptions occurred during the filming of many leading television and movie shoots.”
Now, in all fairness, solar power provides clear financial benefits for customers in many places now. So, this might not have been a 100% environmentally driven initiative. Nonetheless, my bet is that was more than 50% of the push — Cameron really is a serious green.
