Wind Turbine Payback in Clarion County, PA
Wind turbine payback in Clarion 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 Clarion County, PA averages 3.56 m/s (8 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 4,570 kWh a year, worth $966 at PA's 21.13¢/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 Clarion County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Clarion County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 6.5 m/s at the hub against 3.56 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,060 kWh a year here against the turbine's 457, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 109¢/kWh, 5.2 times what PA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 6.5 m/s instead of 3.56. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of PA
Clarion County is the 2,451st 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 Clarion County
January is the strongest month here, at 4.41 m/s and about 749 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.70 m/s and 152 kWh, so the best month makes 4.9 times the worst. November to March brings in 62% of the year's output in Clarion County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.41 m/s | 749 kWh | $158 |
| February | 4.43 m/s | 684 kWh | $145 |
| March | 4.16 m/s | 631 kWh | $133 |
| April | 4.00 m/s | 539 kWh | $114 |
| May | 3.30 m/s | 303 kWh | $64 |
| June | 2.97 m/s | 207 kWh | $44 |
| July | 2.72 m/s | 157 kWh | $33 |
| August | 2.70 m/s | 152 kWh | $32 |
| September | 2.94 m/s | 199 kWh | $42 |
| October | 3.43 m/s | 344 kWh | $73 |
| November | 3.72 m/s | 433 kWh | $91 |
| December | 4.03 m/s | 571 kWh | $121 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Clarion County averages 2.21 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.45 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 2,563 to 9,041 kWh a year, 253% 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 | 2.99 m/s | 2,563 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.56 m/s | 4,584 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 4.04 m/s | 6,772 kWh | 70 years |
| 50 m | 4.45 m/s | 9,041 kWh | 52 years |
Counties around Clarion County
4 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Jefferson County, averages 3.7 m/s.
- Jefferson County, PA: 3.7 m/s, 5,164 kWh, payback 92 years (22 mi)
- Venango County, PA: 3.66 m/s, 4,991 kWh, payback 95 years (23 mi)
- Forest County, PA: 3.66 m/s, 4,991 kWh, payback 95 years (24 mi)
- Armstrong County, PA: 3.56 m/s, 4,570 kWh, payback over 100 years (27 mi)
- Butler County, PA: 3.49 m/s, 4,289 kWh, payback over 100 years (33 mi)
- Indiana County, PA: 3.57 m/s, 4,612 kWh, payback over 100 years (42 mi)
Sun versus wind in Clarion County
Clarion County gets 3.63 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,060 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 457. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 2.3 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.