Wind Turbine Payback in Franklin County, NY
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, NY averages 3.96 m/s (8.9 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 6,378 kWh a year, worth $1,866 at NY's 29.26¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 54 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, 5.6 m/s at the hub against 3.96 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,016 kWh a year here against the turbine's 638, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 78¢/kWh, 2.7 times what NY pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 5.6 m/s instead of 3.96. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of NY
Franklin County is the 2,085th 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 Franklin County
February is the strongest month here, at 4.89 m/s and about 904 kWh. August is the weakest, 3.17 m/s and 266 kWh, so the best month makes 3.4 times the worst. November to March brings in 59% of the year's output in Franklin County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.69 m/s | 893 kWh | $261 |
| February | 4.89 m/s | 904 kWh | $265 |
| March | 4.65 m/s | 871 kWh | $255 |
| April | 4.36 m/s | 698 kWh | $204 |
| May | 3.69 m/s | 436 kWh | $128 |
| June | 3.34 m/s | 307 kWh | $90 |
| July | 3.20 m/s | 276 kWh | $81 |
| August | 3.17 m/s | 266 kWh | $78 |
| September | 3.36 m/s | 312 kWh | $91 |
| October | 3.78 m/s | 467 kWh | $137 |
| November | 4.13 m/s | 595 kWh | $174 |
| December | 4.35 m/s | 718 kWh | $210 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Franklin County averages 2.57 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.85 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.395, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 3,857 to 11,537 kWh a year, 199% 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 | 3.38 m/s | 3,857 kWh | 89 years |
| 30 m | 3.96 m/s | 6,397 kWh | 53 years |
| 40 m | 4.44 m/s | 8,987 kWh | 38 years |
| 50 m | 4.85 m/s | 11,537 kWh | 30 years |
Counties around Franklin County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Clinton County, averages 4.11 m/s.
- Clinton County, NY: 4.11 m/s, 7,143 kWh, payback 48 years (32 mi)
- St. Lawrence County, NY: 3.91 m/s, 6,134 kWh, payback 56 years (38 mi)
- Essex County, NY: 3.61 m/s, 4,778 kWh, payback 72 years (43 mi)
- Grand Isle County, VT: 3.97 m/s, 6,428 kWh, payback 65 years (52 mi)
- Chittenden County, VT: 3.82 m/s, 5,707 kWh, payback 73 years (62 mi)
- Hamilton County, NY: 3.83 m/s, 5,753 kWh, payback 59 years (65 mi)
Sun versus wind in Franklin County
Franklin County gets 3.48 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,016 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 638. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.6 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.