wotimes.com

Having the region’s first residential windmill in his backyard is about more than just lowering monthly electrical bills for Jim Dotson of southeast Lake County. The preparation and work that went into installing the windmill this week will serve as a training exercise for Dotson, who plans to lead an effort to bring wind-generated electricity to a small village in West Africa.

A native of Southern California, Dotson retired from a successful career as a music record producer and moved to Central Florida to work as a media designer for Walt Disney World Imagineering. He and his wife, Holly, have lived in their home off Avalon Road, just across the Lake County line, for about 10 years.

Dotson’s adventure in renewable energy began in June 2008 when visiting Washington, D.C., with his family. While touring the botanical gardens, Dotson came across an exhibit on renewable energy that featured wind turbines. At that moment, Dotson said, he felt a calling from God.

Upon returning home, Dotson spent the next four months researching windmills on the Internet. Once he believed he had settled on the best brand available, Dotson realized his purpose.

“I heard God tell me: ‘Now that you have this information, you must go to Africa,’” Dotson said.

From that point on, he said, everything quickly fell into place. Dotson first traveled to Africa in July with 24 doctors as part of a mission trip through First Baptist Church of Orlando. In the West African village of Deibougou, located in the small nation of Burkina Faso, the group treated villagers with basic medical services. While helping pour the concrete foundation for a church there, Dotson said he knew this was where he was meant to fulfill his vision.

Armed with the experience and knowledge from installing the wind turbine at home, Dotson will return the Burkina Faso in November. He is scheduled to meet with the nation’s president and prime minister to pave the way for his third trip, in March, when he plans to deliver and install a windmill in Deibougou that will provide electricity for a church and municipal office and provide power to help build a school house.

Standing about 41 feet tall with six-foot blades, the Sky Stream 3.7 produced by Southwest Windpower in Flagstaff, Ariz., was set to arrive at Dotson’s home this week aboard a flatbed truck. With the help of his nephew, Doston laid a six-by-six-foot concrete foundation at the rear of his property, which sits atop a hill overlooking water conservation wetlands.

With the use of a truck and a pulley and cables, the two men expect to erect and complete the installation themselves. The turbine is capable of producing 2.4 kilowatts of electricity. Enough, Dotson said, to likely cut his home’s electric bill in half. When accounting for tax incentives along with electricity savings, Dotson estimates the turbine will pay for itself in about four years.

While gaining the necessary permits, Dotson said, Lake County officials were perplexed because they had never dealt with a residential windmill, resulting in his structure being classified as an amateur radio tower. Progress Energy, Dotson said, is studying his project because it is the first in the region and should serve as a model for future backyard wind turbines. Florida Turnpike authorities, he said, have also taken notice as they begin a project to install the same brand of turbine near Wildwood.

Dotson’s property already supports a small vineyard, and he is considering adding solar panels.

“We have well water and a septic tank,” he said. “If we can generate electricity, we would be almost totally self sufficient.”

Dotson’s immediate focus, though, remains on completing his mission to bring electricity to Deibougou. Through churches and the non-profit, fund-raising organization that he founded, Hesentme.org, Dotson will spend the coming months working to acquire grants and raise money to pay for the $12,000 Sky Stream and its installation in Burkina Faso.

From the beginning, Dotson said, he felt God stressing the importance of renewable energy.

“God has given it to us, so why not use it?” Dotson asked. “If you can use it to help people around the world who really need it, then everybody wins.”