Wind Turbine Payback in Greenbrier County, WV
Wind turbine payback in Greenbrier 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 Greenbrier County, WV averages 3.57 m/s (8 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 4,612 kWh a year, worth $718 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 Greenbrier County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Greenbrier County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.7 m/s at the hub against 3.57 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,200 kWh a year here against the turbine's 461, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 108¢/kWh, 7.0 times what WV pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.7 m/s instead of 3.57. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of WV
Greenbrier County is the 2,441st 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 Greenbrier County
January is the strongest month here, at 4.47 m/s and about 778 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.52 m/s and 118 kWh, so the best month makes 6.6 times the worst. November to March brings in 64% of the year's output in Greenbrier County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.47 m/s | 778 kWh | $121 |
| February | 4.57 m/s | 747 kWh | $116 |
| March | 4.34 m/s | 714 kWh | $111 |
| April | 4.13 m/s | 596 kWh | $93 |
| May | 3.33 m/s | 314 kWh | $49 |
| June | 2.90 m/s | 190 kWh | $30 |
| July | 2.61 m/s | 135 kWh | $21 |
| August | 2.52 m/s | 118 kWh | $18 |
| September | 2.85 m/s | 179 kWh | $28 |
| October | 3.38 m/s | 329 kWh | $51 |
| November | 3.71 m/s | 429 kWh | $67 |
| December | 4.10 m/s | 602 kWh | $94 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Greenbrier County averages 2.24 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.43 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 2,612 to 8,924 kWh a year, 242% 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 m/s | 2,612 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.57 m/s | 4,600 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 4.03 m/s | 6,729 kWh | 95 years |
| 50 m | 4.43 m/s | 8,924 kWh | 72 years |
Counties around Greenbrier County
None of the 6 closest counties is windier than Greenbrier County.
- Alleghany County, VA: 3.37 m/s, 3,830 kWh, payback over 100 years (26 mi)
- Monroe County, WV: 3.34 m/s, 3,720 kWh, payback over 100 years (26 mi)
- Covington city, VA: 3.37 m/s, 3,830 kWh, payback over 100 years (27 mi)
- Summers County, WV: 3.34 m/s, 3,720 kWh, payback over 100 years (29 mi)
- Nicholas County, WV: 3.56 m/s, 4,570 kWh, payback over 100 years (32 mi)
- Craig County, VA: 3.19 m/s, 3,198 kWh, payback over 100 years (33 mi)
Sun versus wind in Greenbrier County
Greenbrier County gets 4.11 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,200 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 461. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 2.6 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.