Wind Turbine Payback in Belmont County, OH
Wind turbine payback in Belmont 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 Belmont County, OH averages 3.38 m/s (7.6 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 3,868 kWh a year, worth $727 at OH's 18.81¢/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 Belmont County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Belmont County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 6.9 m/s at the hub against 3.38 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,098 kWh a year here against the turbine's 387, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 129¢/kWh, 6.9 times what OH pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 6.9 m/s instead of 3.38. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of OH
Belmont County is the 2,643rd 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 Belmont County
January is the strongest month here, at 3.98 m/s and about 551 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.60 m/s and 133 kWh, so the best month makes 4.1 times the worst. November to March brings in 58% of the year's output in Belmont County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.98 m/s | 551 kWh | $104 |
| February | 4.07 m/s | 531 kWh | $100 |
| March | 3.93 m/s | 527 kWh | $99 |
| April | 3.88 m/s | 491 kWh | $92 |
| May | 3.18 m/s | 268 kWh | $50 |
| June | 2.91 m/s | 192 kWh | $36 |
| July | 2.64 m/s | 140 kWh | $26 |
| August | 2.60 m/s | 133 kWh | $25 |
| September | 2.84 m/s | 178 kWh | $33 |
| October | 3.32 m/s | 310 kWh | $58 |
| November | 3.54 m/s | 368 kWh | $69 |
| December | 3.66 m/s | 425 kWh | $80 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Belmont County averages 2.06 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.25 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.450, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 2,083 to 7,897 kWh a year, 279% 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 | 2.81 m/s | 2,083 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.38 m/s | 3,857 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 3.84 m/s | 5,819 kWh | 91 years |
| 50 m | 4.25 m/s | 7,897 kWh | 67 years |
Counties around Belmont County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Harrison County, averages 3.67 m/s.
- Ohio County, WV: 3.36 m/s, 3,794 kWh, payback over 100 years (19 mi)
- Marshall County, WV: 3.36 m/s, 3,794 kWh, payback over 100 years (19 mi)
- Harrison County, OH: 3.67 m/s, 5,034 kWh, payback over 100 years (20 mi)
- Monroe County, OH: 3.27 m/s, 3,471 kWh, payback over 100 years (21 mi)
- Brooke County, WV: 3.44 m/s, 4,094 kWh, payback over 100 years (27 mi)
- Guernsey County, OH: 3.38 m/s, 3,868 kWh, payback over 100 years (28 mi)
Sun versus wind in Belmont County
Belmont County gets 3.76 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,098 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 387. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 2.8 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.