Wind Turbine Payback in Franklin County, FL
Wind turbine payback in Franklin 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 Franklin County, FL averages 5.6 m/s (12.5 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 16,762 kWh a year, worth $2,568 at FL's 15.32¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 39 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Franklin County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Franklin County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.8 m/s at the hub against 5.6 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,451 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,676, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 30¢/kWh, 1.9 times what FL pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.8 m/s instead of 5.6. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of FL
Franklin County is the 1,170th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in FL is Brevard County at 5.62 m/s, payback 39 years.
Month by month in Franklin County
January is the strongest month here, at 6.70 m/s and about 2,114 kWh. July is the weakest, 4.30 m/s and 694 kWh, so the best month makes 3.0 times the worst. November to March brings in 56% of the year's output in Franklin County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.70 m/s | 2,114 kWh | $324 |
| February | 6.37 m/s | 1,721 kWh | $264 |
| March | 6.24 m/s | 1,827 kWh | $280 |
| April | 5.75 m/s | 1,471 kWh | $225 |
| May | 4.97 m/s | 1,047 kWh | $160 |
| June | 4.54 m/s | 787 kWh | $121 |
| July | 4.30 m/s | 694 kWh | $106 |
| August | 4.38 m/s | 731 kWh | $112 |
| September | 5.30 m/s | 1,198 kWh | $184 |
| October | 5.88 m/s | 1,598 kWh | $245 |
| November | 6.31 m/s | 1,808 kWh | $277 |
| December | 6.57 m/s | 2,031 kWh | $311 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Franklin County averages 5.1 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.85 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.085, typical of very open, smooth ground where height adds little. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 15,402 to 18,595 kWh a year, 21% 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 | 5.41 m/s | 15,402 kWh | 42 years |
| 30 m | 5.6 m/s | 16,772 kWh | 39 years |
| 40 m | 5.74 m/s | 17,786 kWh | 37 years |
| 50 m | 5.85 m/s | 18,595 kWh | 35 years |
Counties around Franklin County
None of the 6 closest counties is windier than Franklin County.
- Gulf County, FL: 3.94 m/s, 6,280 kWh, payback over 100 years (30 mi)
- Wakulla County, FL: 3.88 m/s, 5,989 kWh, payback over 100 years (40 mi)
- Liberty County, FL: 3.33 m/s, 3,684 kWh, payback over 100 years (40 mi)
- Calhoun County, FL: 3.33 m/s, 3,684 kWh, payback over 100 years (54 mi)
- Bay County, FL: 5.21 m/s, 13,976 kWh, payback 47 years (54 mi)
- Leon County, FL: 3.01 m/s, 2,631 kWh, payback over 100 years (63 mi)
Sun versus wind in Franklin County
Franklin County gets 4.97 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,451 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,676. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.2 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.