Wind Turbine Payback in Cherokee County, NC
Wind turbine payback in Cherokee 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 Cherokee County, NC averages 3.11 m/s (7 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 2,938 kWh a year, worth $439 at NC's 14.94¢/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 Cherokee County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Cherokee County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.9 m/s at the hub against 3.11 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,261 kWh a year here against the turbine's 294, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 170¢/kWh, 11.4 times what NC pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.9 m/s instead of 3.11. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of NC
Cherokee County is the 2,985th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in NC is Dare County at 6.91 m/s, payback 25 years.
Month by month in Cherokee County
March is the strongest month here, at 3.71 m/s and about 441 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.25 m/s and 75 kWh, so the best month makes 5.9 times the worst. November to March brings in 61% of the year's output in Cherokee County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.68 m/s | 432 kWh | $65 |
| February | 3.76 m/s | 418 kWh | $62 |
| March | 3.71 m/s | 441 kWh | $66 |
| April | 3.62 m/s | 396 kWh | $59 |
| May | 3.01 m/s | 224 kWh | $33 |
| June | 2.51 m/s | 113 kWh | $17 |
| July | 2.31 m/s | 83 kWh | $12 |
| August | 2.25 m/s | 75 kWh | $11 |
| September | 2.64 m/s | 137 kWh | $20 |
| October | 3.11 m/s | 249 kWh | $37 |
| November | 3.36 m/s | 310 kWh | $46 |
| December | 3.48 m/s | 362 kWh | $54 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Cherokee County averages 1.93 m/s; at 50 m it is 3.89 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.435, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 1,590 to 6,037 kWh a year, 280% 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 | 2.61 m/s | 1,590 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.11 m/s | 2,954 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 3.53 m/s | 4,449 kWh | over 100 years |
| 50 m | 3.89 m/s | 6,037 kWh | over 100 years |
Counties around Cherokee County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Graham County, averages 3.25 m/s.
- Clay County, NC: 3.11 m/s, 2,938 kWh, payback over 100 years (18 mi)
- Graham County, NC: 3.25 m/s, 3,402 kWh, payback over 100 years (20 mi)
- Union County, GA: 3.11 m/s, 2,938 kWh, payback over 100 years (21 mi)
- Fannin County, GA: 3.24 m/s, 3,367 kWh, payback over 100 years (24 mi)
- Monroe County, TN: 3.07 m/s, 2,813 kWh, payback over 100 years (24 mi)
- Towns County, GA: 3.11 m/s, 2,938 kWh, payback over 100 years (25 mi)
Sun versus wind in Cherokee County
Cherokee County gets 4.32 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,261 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 294. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 4.3 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.