STUARTS DRAFT — When the sun goes down, the homemade passive solar heater for Richard Murphy's tractor barn shuts off. He's confident that his 1.8 kilowatt wind turbine will pick up the slack. Thursday afternoon, the Augusta County Board of Zoning Appeals granted Murphy a special use permit for a 35-foot tower at his aptly named Windy Hill Lane residence. But Murphy doesn't plan to leave the grid. In fact, his three-blade, 220-volt alternator will feed directly into his breaker box, easing the draw of his all-electric house on his utility meter. When he generates more than he uses, state law insists that the utility buys his surplus. "I estimate I can cut my electrical bill between 20 and 30 percent," he said. "Payback will happen in about 12 years."

STUARTS DRAFT — When the sun goes down, the homemade passive solar heater for Richard Murphy's tractor barn shuts off. He's confident that his 1.8 kilowatt wind turbine will pick up the slack.

Thursday afternoon, the Augusta County Board of Zoning Appeals granted Murphy a special use permit for a 35-foot tower at his aptly named Windy Hill Lane residence.

But Murphy doesn't plan to leave the grid. In fact, his three-blade, 220-volt alternator will feed directly into his breaker box, easing the draw of his all-electric house on his utility meter. When he generates more than he uses, state law insists that the utility buys his surplus.

"I estimate I can cut my electrical bill between 20 and 30 percent," he said. "Payback will happen in about 12 years."

The retired electrical engineer's calculations made an impression on the staff at James Madison University's Virginia Small Wind Incentive Program: A JMU-administered state grant will cover one-third of the project's $10,000 price tag.

A smaller, nautical-grade wind turbine already powers the lights and outlets in his barn — and supplied much of the data for the larger project. Spanning technologies, firewood will help heat the Murphys' house for the foreseeable future. And Murphy's toying with the idea of installing photo-voltaic panels.

"You can't rely just on conservation," he said. "You can't take a single strategy to solve all our energy problems. If I had a nice little stream running through here, I'd consider hydro power."

Unlike the industrial bank of 400-foot turbines planned for (and hotly opposed in) Highland County, Murphy's modest venture into renewable energy has the full support of his neighbors.

Without its 6-foot blades, the structure will be about the height and size of a typical parking-lot mercury-vapor lamp.

On Monday Murphy will submit his plans for a building permit for the single-mast structure. Then he'll line up the installation crew.

"This is not a do-it-yourself project," he said. "But I'm chomping on the bit.

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