Wind Turbine Payback in Bennington County, VT
Wind turbine payback in Bennington 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 Bennington County, VT averages 3.5 m/s (7.8 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 4,329 kWh a year, worth $1,036 at VT's 23.93¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 97 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Bennington County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Bennington County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 6.2 m/s at the hub against 3.5 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,066 kWh a year here against the turbine's 433, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 116¢/kWh, 4.8 times what VT pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 6.2 m/s instead of 3.5. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of VT
Bennington County is the 2,507th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in VT is Franklin County at 3.97 m/s, payback 65 years.
Month by month in Bennington County
March is the strongest month here, at 4.18 m/s and about 640 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.75 m/s and 162 kWh, so the best month makes 4.0 times the worst. November to March brings in 59% of the year's output in Bennington County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.08 m/s | 593 kWh | $142 |
| February | 4.31 m/s | 629 kWh | $151 |
| March | 4.18 m/s | 640 kWh | $153 |
| April | 3.91 m/s | 504 kWh | $121 |
| May | 3.31 m/s | 307 kWh | $73 |
| June | 2.96 m/s | 203 kWh | $49 |
| July | 2.78 m/s | 169 kWh | $40 |
| August | 2.75 m/s | 162 kWh | $39 |
| September | 2.95 m/s | 201 kWh | $48 |
| October | 3.38 m/s | 327 kWh | $78 |
| November | 3.59 m/s | 385 kWh | $92 |
| December | 3.84 m/s | 495 kWh | $118 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Bennington County averages 2.21 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.33 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.418, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 2,462 to 8,346 kWh a year, 239% 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 | 2.95 m/s | 2,462 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.5 m/s | 4,319 kWh | 97 years |
| 40 m | 3.94 m/s | 6,301 kWh | 66 years |
| 50 m | 4.33 m/s | 8,346 kWh | 50 years |
Counties around Bennington County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Windham County, averages 3.64 m/s.
- Windham County, VT: 3.64 m/s, 4,905 kWh, payback 85 years (20 mi)
- Washington County, NY: 3.44 m/s, 4,094 kWh, payback 84 years (25 mi)
- Rensselaer County, NY: 3.57 m/s, 4,612 kWh, payback 74 years (30 mi)
- Saratoga County, NY: 3.31 m/s, 3,612 kWh, payback 95 years (38 mi)
- Rutland County, VT: 3.32 m/s, 3,648 kWh, payback over 100 years (40 mi)
- Franklin County, MA: 3.59 m/s, 4,694 kWh, payback 71 years (41 mi)
Sun versus wind in Bennington County
Bennington County gets 3.65 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,066 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 433. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 2.5 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.