Wind Turbine Payback in Chenango County, NY
Wind turbine payback in Chenango 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 Chenango County, NY averages 3.84 m/s (8.6 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 5,800 kWh a year, worth $1,697 at NY's 29.26¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 59 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Chenango County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Chenango County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 5.6 m/s at the hub against 3.84 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,069 kWh a year here against the turbine's 580, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 86¢/kWh, 2.9 times what NY pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 5.6 m/s instead of 3.84. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of NY
Chenango County is the 2,186th 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 Chenango County
January is the strongest month here, at 4.83 m/s and about 967 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.94 m/s and 206 kWh, so the best month makes 4.7 times the worst. November to March brings in 64% of the year's output in Chenango County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.83 m/s | 967 kWh | $283 |
| February | 4.96 m/s | 943 kWh | $276 |
| March | 4.59 m/s | 840 kWh | $246 |
| April | 4.15 m/s | 606 kWh | $177 |
| May | 3.48 m/s | 362 kWh | $106 |
| June | 3.15 m/s | 252 kWh | $74 |
| July | 2.96 m/s | 210 kWh | $61 |
| August | 2.94 m/s | 206 kWh | $60 |
| September | 3.17 m/s | 259 kWh | $76 |
| October | 3.57 m/s | 392 kWh | $115 |
| November | 3.94 m/s | 514 kWh | $150 |
| December | 4.36 m/s | 726 kWh | $212 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Chenango County averages 2.44 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.74 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.413, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 3,390 to 10,826 kWh a year, 219% 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 | 3.25 m/s | 3,390 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.84 m/s | 5,793 kWh | 59 years |
| 40 m | 4.32 m/s | 8,304 kWh | 41 years |
| 50 m | 4.74 m/s | 10,826 kWh | 32 years |
Counties around Chenango County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Cortland County, averages 3.88 m/s.
- Broome County, NY: 3.7 m/s, 5,164 kWh, payback 66 years (25 mi)
- Cortland County, NY: 3.88 m/s, 5,989 kWh, payback 57 years (25 mi)
- Madison County, NY: 3.88 m/s, 5,989 kWh, payback 57 years (30 mi)
- Otsego County, NY: 3.86 m/s, 5,894 kWh, payback 58 years (31 mi)
- Delaware County, NY: 3.77 m/s, 5,477 kWh, payback 62 years (38 mi)
- Tioga County, NY: 3.63 m/s, 4,862 kWh, payback 70 years (41 mi)
Sun versus wind in Chenango County
Chenango County gets 3.66 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,069 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 580. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.8 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.