Wind Turbine Payback in Grant County, WV
Wind turbine payback in Grant 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 Grant County, WV averages 3.65 m/s (8.2 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 4,948 kWh a year, worth $771 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 Grant County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Grant County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.7 m/s at the hub against 3.65 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,107 kWh a year here against the turbine's 495, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 101¢/kWh, 6.5 times what WV pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.7 m/s instead of 3.65. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of WV
Grant County is the 2,332nd 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 Grant County
January is the strongest month here, at 4.74 m/s and about 921 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.51 m/s and 117 kWh, so the best month makes 7.9 times the worst. November to March brings in 66% of the year's output in Grant County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.74 m/s | 921 kWh | $143 |
| February | 4.78 m/s | 852 kWh | $133 |
| March | 4.40 m/s | 745 kWh | $116 |
| April | 4.15 m/s | 603 kWh | $94 |
| May | 3.30 m/s | 304 kWh | $47 |
| June | 2.96 m/s | 205 kWh | $32 |
| July | 2.65 m/s | 142 kWh | $22 |
| August | 2.51 m/s | 117 kWh | $18 |
| September | 2.78 m/s | 164 kWh | $26 |
| October | 3.41 m/s | 337 kWh | $53 |
| November | 3.82 m/s | 471 kWh | $73 |
| December | 4.29 m/s | 691 kWh | $108 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Grant County averages 2.29 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.53 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.424, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 2,818 to 9,519 kWh a year, 238% 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 | 3.07 m/s | 2,818 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.65 m/s | 4,938 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 4.12 m/s | 7,201 kWh | 89 years |
| 50 m | 4.53 m/s | 9,519 kWh | 67 years |
Counties around Grant County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Garrett County, averages 3.73 m/s.
- Tucker County, WV: 3.65 m/s, 4,948 kWh, payback over 100 years (20 mi)
- Hardy County, WV: 3.37 m/s, 3,830 kWh, payback over 100 years (20 mi)
- Mineral County, WV: 3.49 m/s, 4,289 kWh, payback over 100 years (24 mi)
- Garrett County, MD: 3.73 m/s, 5,297 kWh, payback 89 years (31 mi)
- Pendleton County, WV: 3.69 m/s, 5,121 kWh, payback over 100 years (31 mi)
- Hampshire County, WV: 3.49 m/s, 4,289 kWh, payback over 100 years (34 mi)
Sun versus wind in Grant County
Grant County gets 3.79 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,107 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 495. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 2.2 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.