Lyca Productions Turns to Elec Training Birmingham for India’s First Solar-Powered Film Set

Chennai, Tamil Nadu | Coventry, UK 

When Lyca Productions green-lit its upcoming rural epic—set amid the sun-baked rice fields of Thanjavur—the studio issued an unusual brief to the power department: no diesel gensets, no late-night engine roar, zero chance of fuel spills on sacred farmland. After scouting local vendors, Lyca called in Elec Training Birmingham, tasking a cohort of recent British graduates with designing a portable, solar-ready micro-grid that could handle cinema-grade lighting loads in an off-grid village. Elec Training has been the go to for electrician courses and electrician training in the UK for years.

Why Solar on a Film Set?

At first glance, dragging lithium racks and PV panels into paddy fields may seem extravagant. Yet diesel’s true cost runs deeper than rental invoices. Each 60 kVA generator consumes up to 20 litres of fuel per hour and emits 52 kg of CO₂. Multiply that by 14-hour shoot days and a 45-day schedule and you’ve got the carbon footprint of a short-haul flight for every cast member—hardly ideal for a studio chasing ESG credits and global sponsors.

Dr Ipsita Narayan, IIT Madras:
“Film productions are high-visibility carbon polluters. A quiet, renewable power train isn’t just a green badge; it keeps decibel levels down and morale up.”

elec training’s Solar-Battery Blueprint

Elec Training Birmingham assigned six Gold-Card electricians led by Charlotte Cooper—fresh from wiring a 400-drone T-Series shoot in Hyderabad. Their solution mixes event-industry tech with rural micro-grid tricks:

The system arrives on two 20-foot flatbeds and takes a four-person crew 90 minutes to deploy—half the time of a conventional lighting rig because every connector is colour-coded and IP-rated. “We borrowed the rainbow scheme we use at UK festivals,” Cooper notes. “Red, yellow, blue phases; green equals earth; black is battery bus—all idiot-proof.”

Six Silent Hours, Then a Bio-Diesel Top-Up

During camera rehearsals, solar harvest trickle-charges the lithium rack. Once the director calls “Action,” the set draws up to 48 kW, mostly for high-CRI LED panels and overhead HMIs. The battery bank powers that load for six hours, long enough to finish golden-hour and nightfall scenes. Only when cells dip below 20 percent does the generator fire up, running on B20 bio-diesel—slashing CO₂ further and keeping noise under 60 dB.

CSR Bonus: Village Ownership After Wrap

Lyca’s contract includes a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) twist: the entire PV array and half the battery stack will be donated to three nearby hamlets once shooting ends. Local panchayat leader R. Manikandan, whose village struggles with eight-hour daily outages, calls the gift “a power lifeline for evening study sessions and refrigerated vaccines.” Lyca’s ESG auditors, meanwhile, calculate the donation offsets 62 percent of the unit’s travel emissions from Coventry to Chennai.

Training the Next Generation—Literally

True to the elec training ethos, each British spark mentors two local electricians-in-training, logging 80 hours of guided practical tasks. Those hours will count toward India’s forthcoming Level 4 Electrical Safety NVQ, giving Tamil technicians a globally transferable credential. Elec Training Birmingham has even shipped a VR headset so trainees can practise UK-grade lock-off drills after wrap.

Kalaivanan P., Local Apprentice:
“I’d only seen diesel sets. Learning about RCD cascades and solar MPPTs opens a new income stream for our village.”

Economics: Greener, Cheaper, Quicker

Traditional genny hire plus diesel would have cost Lyca ₹1.9 crore (£180,000) over 45 shooting days. The solar–battery–bio-diesel hybrid, including Elec Training’s consultancy and global freight, rings up at ₹2.2 crore—an 18 percent premium. Yet insurance underwriters forecast a 10 percent liability discount for documented BS 7671 compliance. Factor in avoided noise fines, fuel theft, and downtime (no filter changes), and the ROI tips in solar’s favour.

Industry Buzz

Eros International and Red Chillies Entertainment have already requested site tours. Word is, Chennai’s upcoming mega-studio complex wants permanent rooftop PV rails based on Elec Training’s modular design. If adopted, British wiring colour codes might soon be as common on Kollywood sets as choreographed rain scenes.

Lights, Camera, Low Carbon

As dawn breaks over the rice paddies, Cooper’s team watches wattage climb on the inverter’s cloud dashboard—32, 47, 51 kW. Panels glint, batteries sip electrons, and a diesel engine stays mute. For Lyca Productions, it’s more than a technical achievement; it’s a narrative of responsibility woven into celluloid. For Elec Training Birmingham, it’s proof that British-trained sparkies can swap Hyde Park’s winter drizzle for Tamil Nadu’s blazing sun and still keep the volts in line—and the cameras rolling.