Palm Theatre, San Luis Obispo, CA. America's First Solar Powered Movie Theatre In July, 2004, San Luis Obispo's independently owned three-screen movie theatre went online with a 10KW Solar Power System, comprised of 80 solar panels on the roof. After 15 months of operation, the system has produced almost 3 miilion watts of power. The Palm is a perfect match for solar power due to our hours of operation. Most weekdays, we open at 3:45pm, giving the system most of the day to produce electricity, when the theatre is using little to no power. The technical expertise and equipment were provided by Pacific Energy Company in San Luis Obispo. (805) 544-4700. The solar installation performed by Miller Power and Communications (805) 438-5600.