Wind or Solar for a Home: Which Makes More Power?
The comparison
NASA's POWER record holds sunshine as well as wind, so every county can be compared both ways. One kW of solar panels in the middle county makes about 1,256 kWh a year, at an 80% system performance ratio. One kW of the modelled turbine in the middle county makes about 1,115.
Where wind wins
A kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels in 1,431 of 3,144 counties, 46%. Those are the open, windy places that also top the payback list: the windiest county at turbine height is Aleutians West Census Area, AK, at 9.35 m/s.
Why they can work together
Wind tends to blow hardest in the colder months and at night, when panels make least. In the middle county, November to March brings in 52% of a turbine's year. In a windy county with open land, a turbine alongside panels evens out the seasons; elsewhere, panels alone are the better first purchase. Other counties where a kilowatt of turbine beats a kilowatt of panels include Barnstable County, MA and Nantucket County, MA.
This is output, not cost
The comparison is energy per kW installed, not price per kW. Installed costs differ between the two and change often, so put a real quote for each against the output figures on your county page. A turbine's output depends heavily on its tower, see why tower height decides it, and the solar figure's assumptions are in how the numbers are made.