Wind Turbine Payback in Bradford County, PA
Wind turbine payback in Bradford 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 Bradford County, PA averages 3.63 m/s (8.1 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 4,862 kWh a year, worth $1,027 at PA's 21.13¢/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 Bradford County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Bradford County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 6.5 m/s at the hub against 3.63 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,083 kWh a year here against the turbine's 486, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 103¢/kWh, 4.9 times what PA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 6.5 m/s instead of 3.63. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of PA
Bradford County is the 2,354th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in PA is Philadelphia County at 4.74 m/s, payback 44 years.
Month by month in Bradford County
January is the strongest month here, at 4.42 m/s and about 752 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.83 m/s and 179 kWh, so the best month makes 4.2 times the worst. November to March brings in 61% of the year's output in Bradford County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.42 m/s | 752 kWh | $159 |
| February | 4.54 m/s | 734 kWh | $155 |
| March | 4.34 m/s | 713 kWh | $151 |
| April | 4.00 m/s | 541 kWh | $114 |
| May | 3.37 m/s | 325 kWh | $69 |
| June | 3.07 m/s | 232 kWh | $49 |
| July | 2.87 m/s | 190 kWh | $40 |
| August | 2.83 m/s | 179 kWh | $38 |
| September | 3.05 m/s | 226 kWh | $48 |
| October | 3.42 m/s | 340 kWh | $72 |
| November | 3.73 m/s | 435 kWh | $92 |
| December | 4.04 m/s | 577 kWh | $122 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Bradford County averages 2.25 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.54 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 2,735 to 9,580 kWh a year, 250% 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 | 3.04 m/s | 2,735 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.63 m/s | 4,877 kWh | 97 years |
| 40 m | 4.12 m/s | 7,190 kWh | 66 years |
| 50 m | 4.54 m/s | 9,580 kWh | 49 years |
Counties around Bradford County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Tioga County, averages 3.86 m/s.
- Sullivan County, PA: 3.61 m/s, 4,778 kWh, payback 99 years (24 mi)
- Chemung County, NY: 3.74 m/s, 5,342 kWh, payback 64 years (28 mi)
- Tioga County, NY: 3.63 m/s, 4,862 kWh, payback 70 years (29 mi)
- Wyoming County, PA: 3.61 m/s, 4,778 kWh, payback 99 years (31 mi)
- Susquehanna County, PA: 3.7 m/s, 5,164 kWh, payback 92 years (36 mi)
- Tioga County, PA: 3.86 m/s, 5,894 kWh, payback 80 years (39 mi)
Sun versus wind in Bradford County
Bradford County gets 3.71 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,083 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 486. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 2.2 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.