Wind Turbine Payback in Greene County, GA
Wind turbine payback in Greene 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 Greene County, GA averages 3.04 m/s (6.8 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 2,721 kWh a year, worth $421 at GA's 15.48¢/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 Greene County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Greene County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.8 m/s at the hub against 3.04 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,332 kWh a year here against the turbine's 272, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 184¢/kWh, 11.9 times what GA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.8 m/s instead of 3.04. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of GA
Greene County is the 3,036th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in GA is Glynn County at 5.08 m/s, payback 49 years.
Month by month in Greene County
March is the strongest month here, at 3.49 m/s and about 364 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.39 m/s and 97 kWh, so the best month makes 3.8 times the worst. November to March brings in 54% of the year's output in Greene County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.39 m/s | 331 kWh | $51 |
| February | 3.40 m/s | 303 kWh | $47 |
| March | 3.49 m/s | 364 kWh | $56 |
| April | 3.46 m/s | 342 kWh | $53 |
| May | 3.03 m/s | 228 kWh | $35 |
| June | 2.63 m/s | 134 kWh | $21 |
| July | 2.45 m/s | 106 kWh | $16 |
| August | 2.39 m/s | 97 kWh | $15 |
| September | 2.82 m/s | 172 kWh | $27 |
| October | 3.02 m/s | 226 kWh | $35 |
| November | 3.17 m/s | 257 kWh | $40 |
| December | 3.22 m/s | 281 kWh | $43 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Greene County averages 1.79 m/s; at 50 m it is 3.88 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.481, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 1,345 to 5,989 kWh a year, 345% 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 | 2.5 m/s | 1,345 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.03 m/s | 2,705 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 3.49 m/s | 4,270 kWh | over 100 years |
| 50 m | 3.88 m/s | 5,989 kWh | over 100 years |
Counties around Greene County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Morgan County, averages 3.35 m/s.
- Taliaferro County, GA: 3.04 m/s, 2,721 kWh, payback over 100 years (17 mi)
- Morgan County, GA: 3.35 m/s, 3,757 kWh, payback over 100 years (19 mi)
- Oglethorpe County, GA: 2.95 m/s, 2,455 kWh, payback over 100 years (21 mi)
- Putnam County, GA: 3.04 m/s, 2,721 kWh, payback over 100 years (21 mi)
- Hancock County, GA: 3.04 m/s, 2,721 kWh, payback over 100 years (23 mi)
- Oconee County, GA: 3.32 m/s, 3,648 kWh, payback over 100 years (24 mi)
Sun versus wind in Greene County
Greene County gets 4.56 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,332 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 272. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 4.9 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.