Wind Turbine Payback in Delaware County, NY
Wind turbine payback in Delaware 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 Delaware County, NY averages 3.77 m/s (8.4 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 5,477 kWh a year, worth $1,603 at NY's 29.26¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 62 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Delaware County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Delaware County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 5.6 m/s at the hub against 3.77 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,086 kWh a year here against the turbine's 548, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 91¢/kWh, 3.1 times what NY pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 5.6 m/s instead of 3.77. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of NY
Delaware County is the 2,225th 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 Delaware County
February is the strongest month here, at 4.79 m/s and about 856 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.88 m/s and 191 kWh, so the best month makes 4.5 times the worst. November to March brings in 62% of the year's output in Delaware County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.58 m/s | 835 kWh | $244 |
| February | 4.79 m/s | 856 kWh | $250 |
| March | 4.57 m/s | 831 kWh | $243 |
| April | 4.19 m/s | 624 kWh | $183 |
| May | 3.47 m/s | 357 kWh | $104 |
| June | 3.11 m/s | 242 kWh | $71 |
| July | 2.90 m/s | 197 kWh | $58 |
| August | 2.88 m/s | 191 kWh | $56 |
| September | 3.13 m/s | 246 kWh | $72 |
| October | 3.57 m/s | 392 kWh | $115 |
| November | 3.84 m/s | 476 kWh | $139 |
| December | 4.26 m/s | 675 kWh | $198 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Delaware County averages 2.38 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.66 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.417, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 3,165 to 10,320 kWh a year, 226% 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 | 3.18 m/s | 3,165 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.77 m/s | 5,459 kWh | 63 years |
| 40 m | 4.25 m/s | 7,875 kWh | 43 years |
| 50 m | 4.66 m/s | 10,320 kWh | 33 years |
Counties around Delaware County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Otsego County, averages 3.86 m/s.
- Otsego County, NY: 3.86 m/s, 5,894 kWh, payback 58 years (30 mi)
- Sullivan County, NY: 3.64 m/s, 4,905 kWh, payback 70 years (34 mi)
- Chenango County, NY: 3.84 m/s, 5,800 kWh, payback 59 years (38 mi)
- Schoharie County, NY: 3.77 m/s, 5,477 kWh, payback 62 years (38 mi)
- Ulster County, NY: 3.73 m/s, 5,297 kWh, payback 65 years (40 mi)
- Wayne County, PA: 3.64 m/s, 4,905 kWh, payback 97 years (41 mi)
Sun versus wind in Delaware County
Delaware County gets 3.72 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,086 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 548. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 2.0 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.