Wind Turbine Payback in Erie County, OH
Wind turbine payback in Erie 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 Erie County, OH averages 6.49 m/s (14.5 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 23,333 kWh a year, worth $4,389 at OH's 18.81¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 23 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Erie County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Erie County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 6.9 m/s at the hub against 6.49 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,075 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,333, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 21¢/kWh, 1.1 times what OH pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 6.9 m/s instead of 6.49. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of OH
Erie County is the 219th 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 Erie County
January is the strongest month here, at 7.87 m/s and about 2,804 kWh. August is the weakest, 4.73 m/s and 915 kWh, so the best month makes 3.1 times the worst. November to March brings in 54% of the year's output in Erie County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.87 m/s | 2,804 kWh | $527 |
| February | 7.45 m/s | 2,317 kWh | $436 |
| March | 7.07 m/s | 2,337 kWh | $440 |
| April | 7.16 m/s | 2,315 kWh | $435 |
| May | 6.04 m/s | 1,700 kWh | $320 |
| June | 5.39 m/s | 1,254 kWh | $236 |
| July | 4.80 m/s | 950 kWh | $179 |
| August | 4.73 m/s | 915 kWh | $172 |
| September | 5.49 m/s | 1,314 kWh | $247 |
| October | 6.95 m/s | 2,265 kWh | $426 |
| November | 7.47 m/s | 2,493 kWh | $469 |
| December | 7.56 m/s | 2,629 kWh | $495 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Erie County averages 5.37 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.09 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.173, typical of very open, smooth ground where height adds little. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 20,080 to 27,684 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 | 6.05 m/s | 20,080 kWh | 27 years |
| 30 m | 6.49 m/s | 23,336 kWh | 23 years |
| 40 m | 6.82 m/s | 25,758 kWh | 21 years |
| 50 m | 7.09 m/s | 27,684 kWh | 19 years |
Counties around Erie County
None of the 6 closest counties is windier than Erie County.
- Huron County, OH: 6 m/s, 19,704 kWh, payback 27 years (17 mi)
- Lorain County, OH: 6.35 m/s, 22,299 kWh, payback 24 years (21 mi)
- Ottawa County, OH: 6.2 m/s, 21,187 kWh, payback 25 years (24 mi)
- Sandusky County, OH: 6.2 m/s, 21,187 kWh, payback 25 years (29 mi)
- Seneca County, OH: 6.02 m/s, 19,852 kWh, payback 27 years (34 mi)
- Medina County, OH: 5.65 m/s, 17,126 kWh, payback 31 years (41 mi)
Sun versus wind in Erie County
Erie County gets 3.68 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,075 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,333. 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.