Wind Turbine Payback in Gilmer County, WV
Wind turbine payback in Gilmer 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 Gilmer County, WV averages 3.33 m/s (7.4 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 3,684 kWh a year, worth $574 at WV's 15.58¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of over 100 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Gilmer County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Gilmer County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.7 m/s at the hub against 3.33 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,136 kWh a year here against the turbine's 368, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 136¢/kWh, 8.7 times what WV pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.7 m/s instead of 3.33. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of WV
Gilmer County is the 2,705th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in WV is Preston County at 3.73 m/s, payback over 100 years.
Month by month in Gilmer County
January is the strongest month here, at 4.06 m/s and about 585 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.50 m/s and 114 kWh, so the best month makes 5.1 times the worst. November to March brings in 61% of the year's output in Gilmer County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.06 m/s | 585 kWh | $91 |
| February | 4.15 m/s | 563 kWh | $88 |
| March | 3.90 m/s | 518 kWh | $81 |
| April | 3.83 m/s | 473 kWh | $74 |
| May | 3.11 m/s | 249 kWh | $39 |
| June | 2.80 m/s | 168 kWh | $26 |
| July | 2.57 m/s | 127 kWh | $20 |
| August | 2.50 m/s | 114 kWh | $18 |
| September | 2.71 m/s | 150 kWh | $23 |
| October | 3.16 m/s | 264 kWh | $41 |
| November | 3.46 m/s | 342 kWh | $53 |
| December | 3.74 m/s | 455 kWh | $71 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Gilmer County averages 2.03 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.19 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.450, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 1,981 to 7,569 kWh a year, 282% 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 | 2.77 m/s | 1,981 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.33 m/s | 3,683 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 3.79 m/s | 5,567 kWh | over 100 years |
| 50 m | 4.19 m/s | 7,569 kWh | 85 years |
Counties around Gilmer County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Braxton County, averages 3.56 m/s.
- Calhoun County, WV: 3.19 m/s, 3,198 kWh, payback over 100 years (15 mi)
- Braxton County, WV: 3.56 m/s, 4,570 kWh, payback over 100 years (16 mi)
- Lewis County, WV: 3.33 m/s, 3,684 kWh, payback over 100 years (20 mi)
- Ritchie County, WV: 3.19 m/s, 3,198 kWh, payback over 100 years (21 mi)
- Doddridge County, WV: 3.29 m/s, 3,541 kWh, payback over 100 years (25 mi)
- Wirt County, WV: 3.19 m/s, 3,198 kWh, payback over 100 years (30 mi)
Sun versus wind in Gilmer County
Gilmer County gets 3.89 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,136 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 368. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 3.1 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.