Wind Turbine Payback in Haywood County, NC
Wind turbine payback in Haywood 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 Haywood County, NC averages 3.17 m/s (7.1 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 3,132 kWh a year, worth $468 at NC's 14.94¢/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 Haywood County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Haywood County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.9 m/s at the hub against 3.17 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,282 kWh a year here against the turbine's 313, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 160¢/kWh, 10.7 times what NC pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.9 m/s instead of 3.17. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of NC
Haywood County is the 2,915th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in NC is Dare County at 6.91 m/s, payback 25 years.
Month by month in Haywood County
March is the strongest month here, at 3.88 m/s and about 507 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.17 m/s and 64 kWh, so the best month makes 7.9 times the worst. November to March brings in 63% of the year's output in Haywood County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.84 m/s | 494 kWh | $74 |
| February | 3.96 m/s | 488 kWh | $73 |
| March | 3.88 m/s | 507 kWh | $76 |
| April | 3.78 m/s | 454 kWh | $68 |
| May | 3.09 m/s | 244 kWh | $36 |
| June | 2.53 m/s | 116 kWh | $17 |
| July | 2.30 m/s | 82 kWh | $12 |
| August | 2.17 m/s | 64 kWh | $10 |
| September | 2.51 m/s | 113 kWh | $17 |
| October | 3.06 m/s | 236 kWh | $35 |
| November | 3.37 m/s | 314 kWh | $47 |
| December | 3.58 m/s | 394 kWh | $59 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Haywood County averages 2.02 m/s; at 50 m it is 3.91 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.410, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 1,762 to 6,134 kWh a year, 248% 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 | 2.69 m/s | 1,762 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.17 m/s | 3,136 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 3.57 m/s | 4,604 kWh | over 100 years |
| 50 m | 3.91 m/s | 6,134 kWh | over 100 years |
Counties around Haywood County
4 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Cocke County, averages 3.3 m/s.
- Jackson County, NC: 3.17 m/s, 3,132 kWh, payback over 100 years (21 mi)
- Buncombe County, NC: 3.26 m/s, 3,436 kWh, payback over 100 years (26 mi)
- Transylvania County, NC: 3.05 m/s, 2,751 kWh, payback over 100 years (26 mi)
- Cocke County, TN: 3.3 m/s, 3,577 kWh, payback over 100 years (26 mi)
- Madison County, NC: 3.22 m/s, 3,299 kWh, payback over 100 years (26 mi)
- Swain County, NC: 3.25 m/s, 3,402 kWh, payback over 100 years (27 mi)
Sun versus wind in Haywood County
Haywood County gets 4.39 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,282 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 313. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 4.1 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.