Wind Turbine Payback in Emmet County, MI
Wind turbine payback in Emmet 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 Emmet County, MI averages 6.4 m/s (14.3 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 22,669 kWh a year, worth $4,926 at MI's 21.73¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 20 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Emmet County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Emmet County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 6.4 m/s at the hub against 6.4 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,037 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,267, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 22¢/kWh, 1.0 times what MI pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 6.4 m/s instead of 6.4. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of MI
Emmet County is the 322nd windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in MI is Keweenaw County at 7.4 m/s, payback 15 years.
Month by month in Emmet County
January is the strongest month here, at 7.35 m/s and about 2,505 kWh. June is the weakest, 5.19 m/s and 1,138 kWh, so the best month makes 2.2 times the worst. November to March brings in 52% of the year's output in Emmet County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.35 m/s | 2,505 kWh | $544 |
| February | 7.36 m/s | 2,267 kWh | $493 |
| March | 6.59 m/s | 2,042 kWh | $444 |
| April | 6.61 m/s | 1,993 kWh | $433 |
| May | 5.79 m/s | 1,541 kWh | $335 |
| June | 5.19 m/s | 1,138 kWh | $247 |
| July | 5.13 m/s | 1,139 kWh | $248 |
| August | 5.33 m/s | 1,258 kWh | $273 |
| September | 6.02 m/s | 1,630 kWh | $354 |
| October | 6.90 m/s | 2,235 kWh | $486 |
| November | 7.32 m/s | 2,408 kWh | $523 |
| December | 7.33 m/s | 2,494 kWh | $542 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Emmet County averages 5.32 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.98 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.169, typical of very open, smooth ground where height adds little. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 19,546 to 26,900 kWh a year, 38% 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 | 5.98 m/s | 19,546 kWh | 24 years |
| 30 m | 6.4 m/s | 22,689 kWh | 20 years |
| 40 m | 6.72 m/s | 25,032 kWh | 18 years |
| 50 m | 6.98 m/s | 26,900 kWh | 17 years |
Counties around Emmet County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Charlevoix County, averages 7.15 m/s.
- Cheboygan County, MI: 5.44 m/s, 15,605 kWh, payback 30 years (25 mi)
- Charlevoix County, MI: 7.15 m/s, 28,109 kWh, payback 16 years (27 mi)
- Antrim County, MI: 6.06 m/s, 20,149 kWh, payback 23 years (41 mi)
- Mackinac County, MI: 5.26 m/s, 14,327 kWh, payback 32 years (43 mi)
- Otsego County, MI: 4.66 m/s, 10,320 kWh, payback 45 years (44 mi)
- Chippewa County, MI: 4.74 m/s, 10,826 kWh, payback 43 years (55 mi)
Sun versus wind in Emmet County
Emmet County gets 3.55 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,037 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,267. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 2.2 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.