ASTORIA — Kaufman Astoria Studios is going green.
The historic film studio installed nearly 400 solar panels on the roof of one of its buildings earlier this month, which will help power its offices, lights and elevators, according to the company.
The 373 panels were placed on top of Stage K, a 18,000-square-foot building that's part of the massive filmmaking campus, located on 35th Avenue between 35th and 36th streets.
The panels are expected to produce over 150,000 kilowatt hours of energy per year — enough to power 17 typical New York homes — and lower the facility's carbon emissions by 93 metric tons annually, the studios said.
"We're...committed to playing a positive role in the larger community by being environmentally responsible," the studios' president Hal Rosenbluth said in a statement.
The panels are the most recent construction change at Kaufman Astoria Studios, which is currently building a new sound stage. The company also opened an outdoor movie lot — the city's only one — on its campus back in 2013.
The studios, which have been in the neighborhood since 1920, have been home to some big-name productions over the years, from television shows like "Sesame Street" to "Orange is the New Black," and films like "Men in Black 3" and "The Bourne Ultimatum."
