Wind Turbine Payback in Bland County, VA
Wind turbine payback in Bland 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 Bland County, VA averages 3.5 m/s (7.8 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 4,329 kWh a year, worth $734 at VA's 16.95¢/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 Bland County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Bland County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.3 m/s at the hub against 3.5 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,183 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, 6.8 times what VA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.3 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 VA
Bland 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 VA is Northampton County at 7.01 m/s, payback 22 years.
Month by month in Bland County
January is the strongest month here, at 4.36 m/s and about 724 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.46 m/s and 107 kWh, so the best month makes 6.8 times the worst. November to March brings in 64% of the year's output in Bland County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.36 m/s | 724 kWh | $123 |
| February | 4.47 m/s | 701 kWh | $119 |
| March | 4.26 m/s | 674 kWh | $114 |
| April | 4.06 m/s | 565 kWh | $96 |
| May | 3.29 m/s | 301 kWh | $51 |
| June | 2.86 m/s | 181 kWh | $31 |
| July | 2.60 m/s | 133 kWh | $23 |
| August | 2.46 m/s | 107 kWh | $18 |
| September | 2.76 m/s | 160 kWh | $27 |
| October | 3.32 m/s | 310 kWh | $53 |
| November | 3.67 m/s | 415 kWh | $70 |
| December | 4.00 m/s | 559 kWh | $95 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Bland County averages 2.17 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.38 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.436, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 2,420 to 8,632 kWh a year, 257% 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 | 2.94 m/s | 2,420 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.51 m/s | 4,350 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 3.97 m/s | 6,447 kWh | 92 years |
| 50 m | 4.38 m/s | 8,632 kWh | 68 years |
Counties around Bland County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Mercer County, averages 3.53 m/s.
- Wythe County, VA: 3.5 m/s, 4,329 kWh, payback over 100 years (16 mi)
- Mercer County, WV: 3.53 m/s, 4,449 kWh, payback over 100 years (19 mi)
- Pulaski County, VA: 3.35 m/s, 3,757 kWh, payback over 100 years (23 mi)
- Tazewell County, VA: 3.29 m/s, 3,541 kWh, payback over 100 years (24 mi)
- Giles County, VA: 3.34 m/s, 3,720 kWh, payback over 100 years (27 mi)
- Smyth County, VA: 3.5 m/s, 4,329 kWh, payback over 100 years (30 mi)
Sun versus wind in Bland County
Bland County gets 4.05 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,183 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 433. 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.