Wind Turbine Payback in Dukes County, MA
Wind turbine payback in Dukes County
Only just. The money comes back late in the turbine's life.
At 30 m, the height a home turbine tower usually reaches, the wind in Dukes County, MA averages 7.41 m/s (16.6 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 29,920 kWh a year, worth $9,033 at MA's 30.19¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 11 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Dukes County
It is close enough that your own site decides it. If you have open land with no trees or buildings upwind, ask an installer to log the wind at 30 m or higher; anything above 5.6 m/s pays back in time. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,142 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,992, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power already costs enough here: break-even is 17¢/kWh and MA pays 30.19¢.
- The wind clears the break-even speed of 5.6 m/s at today's price.
Against the rest of MA
Dukes County is the 5th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in MA is Barnstable County at 8.21 m/s, payback 9 years.
Month by month in Dukes County
January is the strongest month here, at 8.44 m/s and about 3,102 kWh. August is the weakest, 6.05 m/s and 1,704 kWh, so the best month makes 1.8 times the worst. November to March brings in 50% of the year's output in Dukes County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8.44 m/s | 3,102 kWh | $936 |
| February | 8.29 m/s | 2,733 kWh | $825 |
| March | 8.20 m/s | 2,982 kWh | $900 |
| April | 7.61 m/s | 2,569 kWh | $776 |
| May | 6.93 m/s | 2,251 kWh | $680 |
| June | 6.55 m/s | 1,955 kWh | $590 |
| July | 6.30 m/s | 1,863 kWh | $562 |
| August | 6.05 m/s | 1,704 kWh | $514 |
| September | 6.52 m/s | 1,939 kWh | $585 |
| October | 7.63 m/s | 2,665 kWh | $805 |
| November | 8.05 m/s | 2,809 kWh | $848 |
| December | 8.43 m/s | 3,097 kWh | $935 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Dukes County averages 6.39 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.94 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.135, typical of very open, smooth ground where height adds little. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 27,158 to 33,448 kWh a year, 23% more, before counting the extra cost of the taller tower.
| Hub height | Average wind | Output | Payback |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 m | 7.02 m/s | 27,158 kWh | 12 years |
| 30 m | 7.41 m/s | 29,926 kWh | 11 years |
| 40 m | 7.7 m/s | 31,909 kWh | 10 years |
| 50 m | 7.94 m/s | 33,448 kWh | 10 years |
Counties around Dukes County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Nantucket County, averages 8.21 m/s.
- Newport County, RI: 5.04 m/s, 12,805 kWh, payback 27 years (31 mi)
- Nantucket County, MA: 8.21 m/s, 35,148 kWh, payback 9 years (32 mi)
- Bristol County, MA: 5.04 m/s, 12,805 kWh, payback 26 years (32 mi)
- Barnstable County, MA: 8.21 m/s, 35,148 kWh, payback 9 years (36 mi)
- Bristol County, RI: 5.04 m/s, 12,805 kWh, payback 27 years (38 mi)
- Plymouth County, MA: 5.51 m/s, 16,109 kWh, payback 21 years (42 mi)
Sun versus wind in Dukes County
Dukes County gets 3.91 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,142 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,992. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 2.6 times. Panel output assumes an 80% system performance ratio.
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.