A recent trip by our VP of Marketing, Christopher Smith, to the San Diego Daily Transcript for its Green Business Executive Roundtable, provided an excellent opportunity to summarize why Mobile Solar Matters:
SAVE MONEY
A construction company that rents a portable diesel generator, for example, might might budget the rental rate as its cost. “The actual cost of a fossil fuel system is much higher. With solar, the contractor can eliminate fuel cost, fuel delivery, refueling time, engine tune-ups, even remediation costs when fuel is spilled. “That money can be used to preserve or create jobs, or make a project profitable” says Smith, “Solar generators can also produce valuable LEED points, and reduce the need for noise permits.”
SAVE LIVES
With the military, using renewables is quickly becoming a no-brainer. An Oct 4, 2010 article in the NY Times mentioned that 1 US soldier is killed for every 24 convoys delivering supplies in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that diesel fuel accounted for between 30% to 80% of the loads. By reducing the amount of fuel delivered, lives are saved. And, at that time (before fuel prices spiked 30%), it is estimated that it actually cost about $400 per gallon to deliver fuel to the front.
SAVE THE PLANET, SAVE CHILDREN
Using mobile solar instead of diesel has positive impacts on communities. “When a feature film goes on location, each big diesel generator is creating about a ton of carbon dioxide each day,” Smith says, using figures from the EPA, “But that exhaust also contains 40 cancer causing compounds and soot particles to carry them – a very localized impact for families, neighborhoods, and schools.”
(SAVE MORE MONEY)
What’s the upside for a feature film to choose solar? “With diesel costing about $5.50 or more per gallon delivered to a film location – our biggest solar generator saves over $500 a day in fuel costs.”
SAVE AMERICAN JOBS
“Besides, our mobile solar generators are designed and built in California, developing new technology and jobs. Governor Schwarzenegger got it, Governor Brown gets it, and President Obama is profoundly aware of the local benefits of solar. It’s clearly time to make changes in the way we do things.”