During the Intersol Solar Industry conference, held July 13 through 15 in San Francisco, Larry Hagman, reprised his role as J.R. Ewing, the oil baron he played on the television show Dallas. However, this time Ewing was prospecting for solar in the first of a new series of commercials for photovoltaic (PV) manufacturer SolarWorld.

Like real-life former oil baron T. Boone Pickens, Ewing has seen the light. Pickens famously said he would invest billions in bringing wind power online in Texas. Since then, Pickens has been a staunch advocate for renewables (he still supports natural gas as a transitory fuel for ridding dependence on foreign oil). And, like Pickens, Ewing now is standing up for renewables.

In the thirty second spot, Ewing offered a compelling alternative to Sarah Palin’s infamous call for the United States to “drill, baby, drill.” In the ad, as Ewing, Hagman said he quit the oil business years ago, because it was too dirty.

“But I’m still in the energy business; there’s always a better alternative,” the character said. “Shine, baby, shine.”

In real life, “shine, baby, shine” is a motto that Hagman’s been practicing for years. At his 46-acre estate—dubbed Hagman Heaven—just outside of Ojia, Ca., he has what is likely the world’s largest residential installation at 94 kilowatts (kW). According to Hagman, in 2003 the PV system cut his annual electric bill from $37,000 to $13 a month, and that’s just in local fees.

Hagman’s also helped other homeowners in California reap the benefits of solar power as a participant of the Solar Neighbors project. In 2004, he donated 3 kW PV systems to six different families in Los Angeles.

The Solar Neighbors project was an initiative started by Edward Norton and BP (before current CEO Tony Hayward took over) under which stars like Norton, Hagman, Carlos Santana, Daryl Hannah, and Danny DeVito, gave PV systems to families that couldn’t afford to buy them on their own.

Today, one of 78-year-old Hagman’s primary concerns is finding oil on his property. In February 2010, he told London’s The Sunday Times that “I am boring for water. If I find oil—and you can around here—I am going to end up tied up in bureaucratic bullshit. And who has time for that?”