Wind Turbine Payback in Cayuga County, NY
Wind turbine payback in Cayuga 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 Cayuga County, NY averages 4.06 m/s (9.1 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 6,883 kWh a year, worth $2,014 at NY's 29.26¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 50 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Cayuga County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Cayuga County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 5.6 m/s at the hub against 4.06 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,048 kWh a year here against the turbine's 688, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 73¢/kWh, 2.5 times what NY pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 5.6 m/s instead of 4.06. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of NY
Cayuga County is the 2,021st windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in NY is Niagara County at 6.87 m/s, payback 13 years.
Month by month in Cayuga County
January is the strongest month here, at 5.14 m/s and about 1,146 kWh. August is the weakest, 3.11 m/s and 251 kWh, so the best month makes 4.6 times the worst. November to March brings in 63% of the year's output in Cayuga County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.14 m/s | 1,146 kWh | $335 |
| February | 5.21 m/s | 1,075 kWh | $315 |
| March | 4.77 m/s | 934 kWh | $273 |
| April | 4.33 m/s | 684 kWh | $200 |
| May | 3.59 m/s | 398 kWh | $116 |
| June | 3.30 m/s | 295 kWh | $86 |
| July | 3.16 m/s | 264 kWh | $77 |
| August | 3.11 m/s | 251 kWh | $73 |
| September | 3.35 m/s | 310 kWh | $91 |
| October | 3.88 m/s | 508 kWh | $149 |
| November | 4.28 m/s | 665 kWh | $195 |
| December | 4.66 m/s | 875 kWh | $256 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Cayuga County averages 2.72 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.89 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.364, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 4,341 to 11,800 kWh a year, 172% 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 | 3.5 m/s | 4,341 kWh | 79 years |
| 30 m | 4.06 m/s | 6,884 kWh | 50 years |
| 40 m | 4.51 m/s | 9,390 kWh | 36 years |
| 50 m | 4.89 m/s | 11,800 kWh | 29 years |
Counties around Cayuga County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Oswego County, averages 4.74 m/s.
- Onondaga County, NY: 3.95 m/s, 6,329 kWh, payback 54 years (19 mi)
- Seneca County, NY: 4.06 m/s, 6,883 kWh, payback 50 years (20 mi)
- Wayne County, NY: 4.06 m/s, 6,883 kWh, payback 50 years (28 mi)
- Oswego County, NY: 4.74 m/s, 10,826 kWh, payback 32 years (36 mi)
- Yates County, NY: 3.85 m/s, 5,847 kWh, payback 58 years (37 mi)
- Cortland County, NY: 3.88 m/s, 5,989 kWh, payback 57 years (38 mi)
Sun versus wind in Cayuga County
Cayuga County gets 3.59 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,048 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 688. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.5 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.