Charles Bigelow’s official title is the founder, chief executive officer, and president of Boyce-based Light Speed Power Inc. Unofficially, he’s known as a solar evangelist and a renewable-energy rebel. For the past seven years, he’s been preaching the gospel of energy independence — designing, installing, and maintaining solar- and wind-power renewable-energy technologies for private homes. Bigelow has installed more than 15 solar and wind projects — four of them wind turbines — in the Shenandoah Valley and elsewhere in Virginia. He has completed projects in Augusta, Clarke, Frederick, Loudoun, Rappahannock, and Warren counties, as well as in Winchester and three counties in West Virginia. But he’s only at a fraction of his capacity.

“I could do a whole lot more,” he said. Bigelow treats his three-car garage like a miniature factory, pre-cutting lumber there as well as drilling holes and collecting parts such as batteries and photovoltaic modules to take on-site for construction. “I make all the parts at the house so I’m not driving out and burning up gasoline. And once I’m ready to go — then bang — into the ground it goes,” he said. Clyde and Judi DeWitt said they are pleased with the hybrid wind and solar power system Charles Bigelow installed on their Yellow Spring, W.Va., property in 2005.

High on top of Baker Mountain above the Cacapon River, the couple stand under one of their two 84-foot tall windmills. Clyde DeWitt said the three blades on the windmill have a total diameter of 7 feet, with each blade being about 3 feet long. In winds ranging from 15 to 20 mph, each windmill can generate about 1 kilowatt of electricity per hour. All told, when combined with the wattage produced by their solar panels, the DeWitts say they are creating one-third to three-quarters of their electrical power. He has sold several solar-power systems that cost between $24,000 and $36,000. His solar and wind combination installations range from $12,500 to $150,000. His small systems are estimated to save 10 to 20 percent on an energy bill, Bigelow said. Customers have reported energy savings of between 40 to 50 percent and sometimes as much as 70 percent. “That Tim Allen spirit” As a teenager, Bigelow had the “Home Improvement” spirit, he said, and he wanted to work in the nuclear business.

“And then that’s why I went into physics — because I wanted to make bombs and mushroom clouds,” he said. “Bombs, more power — kind of that Tim Allen spirit.” Bigelow worked for several corporations in the telecommunications industry for 25 years before teaching himself the business of renewable-energy installation. From 1996 until 1999, he worked on modernizing the Walter Reed Army Medical Center telecommunications system. His life changed course around 2000 when two events made him feel strongly about renewable energy. His mother participated in a National Press Club briefing about the effects of radioactive emissions from nuclear reactors — what Bigelow refers to as the dangers of dirty power. The briefing focused on the level of strontium in children’s teeth and its correlation with nuclear reactors and cancer in children.

Three weeks later, his daughter Cecilia, now 11, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He spent a week at her bedside at Johns Hopkins University Hospital, followed by six weeks of daily radiation. The frightening experience made his concerns about energy pollution concerns deeply personal. “It was just a life-changing event,” he said. “I’ve got to do something. Our power is dirty and it’s becoming more and more unreliable and it’s got a lot of unhealthy byproducts.” “I just figured it out” He left a job with Science Applications International Corp. in Northern Virginia — with headquarters in San Diego — before launching into the renewable-energy business. He completed the legal paperwork to create Light Speed Power Inc. as an official Virginia corporation Feb. 8, 2001. He learned the renewable-energy trade from Web sites and an online government manual, he said. He also learned on the job, installing solar panels for a family friend. Charles Bigelow peers out from between wooden platforms holding solar panels. His company, Light Speed Power, installed the system at a home in Frederick County.

“There was no place to go for training, so I just figured it out,” he said. The career change was hard on his family. Not only was money tight, but his new profession also requires a lot of travel. “I couldn’t do it without the total support of my wife and children,” he said. “They make it possible.” Bigelow lives in Boyce with his wife, Claudia, his son William, 15, and Cecelia. For him, the change in careers wasn’t so disruptive. Building renewable-energy systems is not much different from working on telecommunications systems integration, he said. “I’ve never done something quite so easy as building a solar power plant, compared to trying to build a complex network for an organization like Walter Reed Army Medical Center,” he said. Bigelow sets up his renewable energy systems to power 120-volt home appliances such as refrigerators, microwave ovens, lights, television sets, computers, satellite receivers, and dishwashers as well as 240-volt well pumps.

The system saves energy by balancing the 120-volt unbalanced load — created because power companies provide energy in 240 volts, but appliances use it in 120 volts. “Because you buy your electricity at 240 volts and if you use it at 120 volts, you waste the other half of the 240-volt fee,” Bigelow said. The most attractive feature for customers is the backup battery power if the primary power system goes down, Bigelow said. All but one of his systems have a backup mechanism. The solar and wind systems require minimal maintenance, and last between 25 and 50 years. Wind turbines require more maintenance, however, because of their moving parts, Bigelow said. The turbines come in several heights, varying in 10-foot increments, he said. Eighty-five-foot turbines are a good size because they rise about 30 feet above the tree line in most locations. Charles Bigelow gets a big hug from his daughter Cecilia, 11, in the back yard of his home in Boyce.

Bigelow says his daughter’s diagnosis with a brain tumor in 2000 spurred his interest in renewable energy. “It was just a life-changing event,” he recalled. His concerns about energy pollution and its effects became deeply personal, he said. “You want to be 30 feet above obstacles if at all possible,” he said. “The higher they go, the more power they make.” Hybrid solar and wind systems work particularly well, he said. In the winter, the wind turbines help to meet the excess demand for power when customers turn up their heat, which Bigelow refers to as shaving the wintertime energy peak. Solar arrays shave the summertime peak loads when customers turn up their air conditioners on hot days.

The key to energy savings from a solar or wind installation for private use is net metering, which is allowed by state law. Net metering permits customers to receive the retail value of their excess energy when their system is producing more electricity than a building is consuming, according to the Web site of the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy at www.dmme. Virginia.gov. Excess electricity generated from renewable sources flows into the main power grid, making the meter run backward, Bigelow said. “Power, water, communications” Most of his business is local, which Bigelow calls the bread-and-butter of his operation. He has also had a contract with the Federal Resources Corp. to subcontract with U.S. Humanitarian Demining Research and Development Program, providing portable power systems used in cleaning up unexploded ordnance, including land mines. He has traveled internationally to make renewable-energy technology presentations, including a visit to officials in Papua New Guinea. Bigelow believes that through his work, he is providing an example of positive change. Not only is renewable energy a more healthy energy alternative, but it’s also the ultimate homeland security solution, he said.

He believes it’s important for national defense, allowing for self-sufficiency for local and national governments. Renewable energy can provide reliable sources for water, power, and communications services during major weather events or other crises, he said. “That’s the number one, again — providing the foundation for really reliable homeland security services, which would mean power, water and communications,” he said. As for Bigelow’s daughter — she is better and thriving, he said. “We’ve been blessed by God, to say the least,” he said. “She’s an angel baby, we call her.” “We’re like a community” Bigelow estimates that more than half of his customers are retired military personnel. “I think a lot of them definitely see that we need independent power, and they see the security aspects of it,” he said. “And they like being independent.” Retired military or not, Bigelow said his customers take an interest in his career and try to help in any way they can.

“We’re like a community,” he said. “I have wonderful customers that have bought systems from me. Some of the nicest people I have ever known.” Hampshire County, W.Va., residents Clyde and Judi DeWitt bought their $35,000 solar and wind hybrid system in July 2005. The couple’s two wind turbines were installed before construction on their home was complete, said Clyde DeWitt, a retired Army colonel, so they used wind energy to power the construction tools. “We just wanted to be more environmentally friendly and have less of an impact and less dependence on the mercy of the electric companies, the oil companies, and all the other energy producers,” DeWitt said.

The couple has enough power for one day on emergency backup, he said. “But if it’s bad weather and the wind’s blowing, we get more power, and if the sun comes back out, we get more power to feed the system,” he said. Despite concerns that the couple may not recoup the cost of the system for several years, they are seeing energy savings. They also do not have any complaints about noise or a harmful impact to bird life — two common criticisms of wind turbines. They’ve never seen a dead bird at the base of their turbine and only hear the train-like sound of the turbine as it slows down, a sound DeWitt says he doesn’t mind. “We’re generating power,” he said. “When we hear the windmills, that sounds like money.

” A lightning strike near their home took out one of the windmills, as well as several other appliances and their well pump, which will be covered by their homeowner’s insurance, DeWitt said, although the couple must pay a deductible. “I would really like to see more people do this because again, it’s a one-time cost — that’s it — and if you had medical needs or an emergency, you could always keep your medicine on, foodstuffs for your baby — you’re always going to have something there that you can rely upon,” he said.

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This article By Laura Oleniacz , The Winchester Star