Wind Turbine Payback in Carter County, KY
Wind turbine payback in Carter 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 Carter County, KY averages 3.24 m/s (7.2 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 3,367 kWh a year, worth $478 at KY's 14.2¢/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 Carter County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Carter County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.2 m/s at the hub against 3.24 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,174 kWh a year here against the turbine's 337, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 149¢/kWh, 10.5 times what KY pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.2 m/s instead of 3.24. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of KY
Carter County is the 2,831st windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in KY is Fulton County at 5.54 m/s, payback 43 years.
Month by month in Carter County
January is the strongest month here, at 3.85 m/s and about 495 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.47 m/s and 110 kWh, so the best month makes 4.5 times the worst. November to March brings in 59% of the year's output in Carter County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.85 m/s | 495 kWh | $70 |
| February | 3.89 m/s | 464 kWh | $66 |
| March | 3.78 m/s | 470 kWh | $67 |
| April | 3.74 m/s | 440 kWh | $62 |
| May | 3.09 m/s | 244 kWh | $35 |
| June | 2.76 m/s | 159 kWh | $23 |
| July | 2.50 m/s | 114 kWh | $16 |
| August | 2.47 m/s | 110 kWh | $16 |
| September | 2.72 m/s | 151 kWh | $21 |
| October | 3.16 m/s | 263 kWh | $37 |
| November | 3.40 m/s | 325 kWh | $46 |
| December | 3.55 m/s | 386 kWh | $55 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Carter County averages 1.95 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.1 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.462, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 1,761 to 7,090 kWh a year, 303% 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 | 2.68 m/s | 1,761 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.24 m/s | 3,361 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 3.7 m/s | 5,157 kWh | over 100 years |
| 50 m | 4.1 m/s | 7,090 kWh | 99 years |
Counties around Carter County
None of the 6 closest counties is windier than Carter County.
- Elliott County, KY: 3.22 m/s, 3,299 kWh, payback over 100 years (14 mi)
- Greenup County, KY: 3.24 m/s, 3,367 kWh, payback over 100 years (18 mi)
- Boyd County, KY: 3.14 m/s, 3,034 kWh, payback over 100 years (20 mi)
- Rowan County, KY: 3.22 m/s, 3,299 kWh, payback over 100 years (22 mi)
- Lawrence County, KY: 3.14 m/s, 3,034 kWh, payback over 100 years (23 mi)
- Lewis County, KY: 3.24 m/s, 3,367 kWh, payback over 100 years (24 mi)
Sun versus wind in Carter County
Carter County gets 4.02 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,174 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 337. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 3.5 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.