Wind Turbine Payback in Baltimore County, MD
Wind turbine payback in Baltimore 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 Baltimore County, MD averages 5.26 m/s (11.8 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 14,327 kWh a year, worth $3,053 at MD's 21.31¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 33 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Baltimore County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Baltimore County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 6.5 m/s at the hub against 5.26 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,180 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,433, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 35¢/kWh, 1.6 times what MD pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 6.5 m/s instead of 5.26. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of MD
Baltimore County is the 1,339th 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 Baltimore County
March is the strongest month here, at 6.19 m/s and about 1,794 kWh. August is the weakest, 3.94 m/s and 532 kWh, so the best month makes 3.4 times the worst. November to March brings in 56% of the year's output in Baltimore County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.12 m/s | 1,750 kWh | $373 |
| February | 6.24 m/s | 1,645 kWh | $351 |
| March | 6.19 m/s | 1,794 kWh | $382 |
| April | 5.94 m/s | 1,581 kWh | $337 |
| May | 4.98 m/s | 1,054 kWh | $225 |
| June | 4.50 m/s | 767 kWh | $163 |
| July | 4.01 m/s | 562 kWh | $120 |
| August | 3.94 m/s | 532 kWh | $113 |
| September | 4.53 m/s | 784 kWh | $167 |
| October | 5.28 m/s | 1,228 kWh | $262 |
| November | 5.68 m/s | 1,427 kWh | $304 |
| December | 5.84 m/s | 1,573 kWh | $335 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Baltimore County averages 3.97 m/s; at 50 m it is 6 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.257, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 10,833 to 19,704 kWh a year, 82% 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 | 4.74 m/s | 10,833 kWh | 43 years |
| 30 m | 5.26 m/s | 14,339 kWh | 33 years |
| 40 m | 5.67 m/s | 17,240 kWh | 27 years |
| 50 m | 6 m/s | 19,704 kWh | 24 years |
Counties around Baltimore County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Kent County, averages 5.49 m/s.
- Baltimore city, MD: 5.26 m/s, 14,327 kWh, payback 33 years (10 mi)
- Harford County, MD: 4.83 m/s, 11,407 kWh, payback 41 years (18 mi)
- Howard County, MD: 5.26 m/s, 14,327 kWh, payback 33 years (21 mi)
- Carroll County, MD: 5.26 m/s, 14,327 kWh, payback 33 years (23 mi)
- Kent County, MD: 5.49 m/s, 15,965 kWh, payback 29 years (30 mi)
- Anne Arundel County, MD: 5.49 m/s, 15,965 kWh, payback 29 years (31 mi)
Sun versus wind in Baltimore County
Baltimore County gets 4.04 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,180 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,433. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.2 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.