Wind Turbine Payback in Cambria County, PA
Wind turbine payback in Cambria 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 Cambria County, PA averages 3.73 m/s (8.3 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 5,297 kWh a year, worth $1,119 at PA's 21.13¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 89 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Cambria County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Cambria County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 6.5 m/s at the hub against 3.73 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,086 kWh a year here against the turbine's 530, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 94¢/kWh, 4.5 times what PA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 6.5 m/s instead of 3.73. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of PA
Cambria County is the 2,261st 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 Cambria County
January is the strongest month here, at 4.74 m/s and about 921 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.70 m/s and 152 kWh, so the best month makes 6.1 times the worst. November to March brings in 64% of the year's output in Cambria County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.74 m/s | 921 kWh | $195 |
| February | 4.79 m/s | 856 kWh | $181 |
| March | 4.45 m/s | 765 kWh | $162 |
| April | 4.19 m/s | 621 kWh | $131 |
| May | 3.41 m/s | 337 kWh | $71 |
| June | 3.04 m/s | 225 kWh | $48 |
| July | 2.78 m/s | 169 kWh | $36 |
| August | 2.70 m/s | 152 kWh | $32 |
| September | 2.96 m/s | 203 kWh | $43 |
| October | 3.52 m/s | 374 kWh | $79 |
| November | 3.89 m/s | 496 kWh | $105 |
| December | 4.32 m/s | 702 kWh | $148 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Cambria County averages 2.34 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.63 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.424, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 3,032 to 10,132 kWh a year, 234% 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 | 3.14 m/s | 3,032 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.73 m/s | 5,290 kWh | 90 years |
| 40 m | 4.21 m/s | 7,689 kWh | 62 years |
| 50 m | 4.63 m/s | 10,132 kWh | 47 years |
Counties around Cambria County
None of the 6 closest counties is windier than Cambria County.
- Blair County, PA: 3.52 m/s, 4,408 kWh, payback over 100 years (21 mi)
- Indiana County, PA: 3.57 m/s, 4,612 kWh, payback over 100 years (22 mi)
- Clearfield County, PA: 3.7 m/s, 5,164 kWh, payback 92 years (36 mi)
- Bedford County, PA: 3.67 m/s, 5,034 kWh, payback 94 years (37 mi)
- Huntingdon County, PA: 3.52 m/s, 4,408 kWh, payback over 100 years (39 mi)
- Somerset County, PA: 3.67 m/s, 5,034 kWh, payback 94 years (40 mi)
Sun versus wind in Cambria County
Cambria County gets 3.72 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,086 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 530. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 2.0 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.