Wind Turbine Payback in Allegany County, MD
Wind turbine payback in Allegany County
No. The turbine wears out before it pays for itself.
At 30 m, the height a home turbine tower usually reaches, the wind in Allegany County, MD averages 3.49 m/s (7.8 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 4,289 kWh a year, worth $914 at MD's 21.31¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of over 100 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Allegany County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Allegany County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 6.5 m/s at the hub against 3.49 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,139 kWh a year here against the turbine's 429, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 117¢/kWh, 5.5 times what MD pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 6.5 m/s instead of 3.49. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of MD
Allegany County is the 2,519th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in MD is Worcester County at 7.01 m/s, payback 17 years.
Month by month in Allegany County
January is the strongest month here, at 4.42 m/s and about 753 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.54 m/s and 122 kWh, so the best month makes 6.2 times the worst. November to March brings in 64% of the year's output in Allegany County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.42 m/s | 753 kWh | $160 |
| February | 4.47 m/s | 705 kWh | $150 |
| March | 4.20 m/s | 649 kWh | $138 |
| April | 3.94 m/s | 517 kWh | $110 |
| May | 3.20 m/s | 275 kWh | $59 |
| June | 2.91 m/s | 192 kWh | $41 |
| July | 2.66 m/s | 144 kWh | $31 |
| August | 2.54 m/s | 122 kWh | $26 |
| September | 2.77 m/s | 162 kWh | $35 |
| October | 3.30 m/s | 305 kWh | $65 |
| November | 3.63 m/s | 400 kWh | $85 |
| December | 3.97 m/s | 544 kWh | $116 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Allegany County averages 2.14 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.39 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.446, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 2,363 to 8,690 kWh a year, 268% more, before counting the extra cost of the taller tower. Why tower height decides it explains the shear behind these numbers.
| Hub height | Average wind | Output | Payback |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 m | 2.92 m/s | 2,363 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.5 m/s | 4,311 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 3.97 m/s | 6,448 kWh | 73 years |
| 50 m | 4.39 m/s | 8,690 kWh | 54 years |
Counties around Allegany County
4 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Garrett County, averages 3.73 m/s.
- Mineral County, WV: 3.49 m/s, 4,289 kWh, payback over 100 years (20 mi)
- Hampshire County, WV: 3.49 m/s, 4,289 kWh, payback over 100 years (21 mi)
- Morgan County, WV: 3.62 m/s, 4,820 kWh, payback over 100 years (24 mi)
- Bedford County, PA: 3.67 m/s, 5,034 kWh, payback 94 years (29 mi)
- Garrett County, MD: 3.73 m/s, 5,297 kWh, payback 89 years (31 mi)
- Somerset County, PA: 3.67 m/s, 5,034 kWh, payback 94 years (31 mi)
Sun versus wind in Allegany County
Allegany County gets 3.9 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,139 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 429. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 2.7 times as much here as the turbine. Panel output assumes an 80% system performance ratio. Wind or solar runs the same comparison for every county.
How this is worked out
Wind is NASA's Power climate record, the 2001-2025 average at 10 m and 50 m for the county's centre, carried to 30 m with this county's own measured wind shear and spread into hours with a Rayleigh distribution. The turbine is a generic 10 kW, 7 m rotor machine with 10% losses. Cost is $10,000 per kW installed with no tax credit, because the federal one ended in 2025. One county-centre number cannot see your hilltop or your tree line, so treat it as the starting point for a site survey, not a substitute. The full method and its weak spots are in how the numbers are made.