Wind Turbine Payback in Cuyahoga County, OH
Wind turbine payback in Cuyahoga 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 Cuyahoga County, OH averages 6.35 m/s (14.2 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 22,299 kWh a year, worth $4,194 at OH's 18.81¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 24 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Cuyahoga County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Cuyahoga County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 6.9 m/s at the hub against 6.35 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,060 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,230, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 22¢/kWh, 1.2 times what OH pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 6.9 m/s instead of 6.35. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of OH
Cuyahoga County is the 402nd windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in OH is Lake County at 6.53 m/s, payback 23 years.
Month by month in Cuyahoga County
January is the strongest month here, at 7.76 m/s and about 2,742 kWh. August is the weakest, 4.66 m/s and 879 kWh, so the best month makes 3.1 times the worst. November to March brings in 55% of the year's output in Cuyahoga County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.76 m/s | 2,742 kWh | $516 |
| February | 7.32 m/s | 2,248 kWh | $423 |
| March | 6.91 m/s | 2,242 kWh | $422 |
| April | 6.93 m/s | 2,180 kWh | $410 |
| May | 5.79 m/s | 1,543 kWh | $290 |
| June | 5.24 m/s | 1,167 kWh | $220 |
| July | 4.69 m/s | 893 kWh | $168 |
| August | 4.66 m/s | 879 kWh | $165 |
| September | 5.37 m/s | 1,241 kWh | $233 |
| October | 6.80 m/s | 2,174 kWh | $409 |
| November | 7.33 m/s | 2,414 kWh | $454 |
| December | 7.49 m/s | 2,586 kWh | $486 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Cuyahoga County averages 5.26 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.93 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.171, typical of very open, smooth ground where height adds little. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 19,149 to 26,541 kWh a year, 39% 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 | 5.92 m/s | 19,149 kWh | 28 years |
| 30 m | 6.35 m/s | 22,302 kWh | 24 years |
| 40 m | 6.67 m/s | 24,659 kWh | 22 years |
| 50 m | 6.93 m/s | 26,541 kWh | 20 years |
Counties around Cuyahoga County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Lake County, averages 6.53 m/s.
- Geauga County, OH: 4.45 m/s, 9,041 kWh, payback 59 years (23 mi)
- Lake County, OH: 6.53 m/s, 23,628 kWh, payback 23 years (26 mi)
- Summit County, OH: 4.24 m/s, 7,842 kWh, payback 68 years (30 mi)
- Lorain County, OH: 6.35 m/s, 22,299 kWh, payback 24 years (31 mi)
- Medina County, OH: 5.65 m/s, 17,126 kWh, payback 31 years (34 mi)
- Portage County, OH: 4.24 m/s, 7,842 kWh, payback 68 years (34 mi)
Sun versus wind in Cuyahoga County
Cuyahoga 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 2,230. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 2.1 times. 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.