Wind Turbine Payback in Ashtabula County, OH
Wind turbine payback in Ashtabula 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 Ashtabula County, OH averages 5.25 m/s (11.7 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 14,256 kWh a year, worth $2,682 at OH's 18.81¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 37 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Ashtabula County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Ashtabula County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 6.9 m/s at the hub against 5.25 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,060 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,426, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 35¢/kWh, 1.9 times what OH pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 6.9 m/s instead of 5.25. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of OH
Ashtabula County is the 1,353rd windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in OH is Lake County at 6.53 m/s, payback 23 years.
Month by month in Ashtabula County
January is the strongest month here, at 6.68 m/s and about 2,102 kWh. August is the weakest, 3.86 m/s and 502 kWh, so the best month makes 4.2 times the worst. November to March brings in 60% of the year's output in Ashtabula County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.68 m/s | 2,102 kWh | $395 |
| February | 6.31 m/s | 1,687 kWh | $317 |
| March | 5.74 m/s | 1,509 kWh | $284 |
| April | 5.53 m/s | 1,337 kWh | $251 |
| May | 4.57 m/s | 829 kWh | $156 |
| June | 4.20 m/s | 628 kWh | $118 |
| July | 3.86 m/s | 502 kWh | $94 |
| August | 3.86 m/s | 502 kWh | $94 |
| September | 4.38 m/s | 710 kWh | $134 |
| October | 5.50 m/s | 1,360 kWh | $256 |
| November | 6.01 m/s | 1,628 kWh | $306 |
| December | 6.36 m/s | 1,902 kWh | $358 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Ashtabula County averages 4.11 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.88 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.223, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 11,168 to 18,816 kWh a year, 68% 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 | 4.79 m/s | 11,168 kWh | 48 years |
| 30 m | 5.25 m/s | 14,235 kWh | 37 years |
| 40 m | 5.59 m/s | 16,722 kWh | 32 years |
| 50 m | 5.88 m/s | 18,816 kWh | 28 years |
Counties around Ashtabula County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Lake County, averages 6.53 m/s.
- Lake County, OH: 6.53 m/s, 23,628 kWh, payback 23 years (25 mi)
- Geauga County, OH: 4.45 m/s, 9,041 kWh, payback 59 years (36 mi)
- Crawford County, PA: 3.66 m/s, 4,991 kWh, payback 95 years (36 mi)
- Erie County, PA: 4.64 m/s, 10,195 kWh, payback 46 years (36 mi)
- Trumbull County, OH: 3.74 m/s, 5,342 kWh, payback 100 years (41 mi)
- Mercer County, PA: 3.66 m/s, 4,991 kWh, payback 95 years (49 mi)
Sun versus wind in Ashtabula County
Ashtabula County gets 3.63 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,060 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,426. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.3 times. 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.