Wind Turbine Payback in Henderson County, KY
Wind turbine payback in Henderson 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 Henderson County, KY averages 5.42 m/s (12.1 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 15,462 kWh a year, worth $2,196 at KY's 14.2¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 46 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Henderson County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Henderson County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.2 m/s at the hub against 5.42 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,223 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,546, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 32¢/kWh, 2.3 times what KY pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.2 m/s instead of 5.42. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of KY
Henderson County is the 1,264th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in KY is Fulton County at 5.54 m/s, payback 43 years.
Month by month in Henderson County
April is the strongest month here, at 6.45 m/s and about 1,896 kWh. July is the weakest, 3.98 m/s and 551 kWh, so the best month makes 3.4 times the worst. November to March brings in 54% of the year's output in Henderson County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.22 m/s | 1,810 kWh | $257 |
| February | 6.18 m/s | 1,614 kWh | $229 |
| March | 6.32 m/s | 1,876 kWh | $266 |
| April | 6.45 m/s | 1,896 kWh | $269 |
| May | 5.42 m/s | 1,316 kWh | $187 |
| June | 4.57 m/s | 803 kWh | $114 |
| July | 3.98 m/s | 551 kWh | $78 |
| August | 3.99 m/s | 555 kWh | $79 |
| September | 4.50 m/s | 768 kWh | $109 |
| October | 5.53 m/s | 1,381 kWh | $196 |
| November | 5.98 m/s | 1,607 kWh | $228 |
| December | 5.97 m/s | 1,655 kWh | $235 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Henderson County averages 4.11 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.17 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.252, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 11,852 to 20,965 kWh a year, 77% 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 | 4.9 m/s | 11,852 kWh | 59 years |
| 30 m | 5.42 m/s | 15,496 kWh | 45 years |
| 40 m | 5.83 m/s | 18,467 kWh | 38 years |
| 50 m | 6.17 m/s | 20,965 kWh | 34 years |
Counties around Henderson County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Posey County, averages 5.53 m/s.
- Vanderburgh County, IN: 5.42 m/s, 15,462 kWh, payback 38 years (16 mi)
- Webster County, KY: 4.88 m/s, 11,734 kWh, payback 60 years (20 mi)
- Union County, KY: 5.26 m/s, 14,327 kWh, payback 49 years (23 mi)
- Posey County, IN: 5.53 m/s, 16,254 kWh, payback 36 years (23 mi)
- McLean County, KY: 4.88 m/s, 11,734 kWh, payback 60 years (25 mi)
- Warrick County, IN: 5.42 m/s, 15,462 kWh, payback 38 years (27 mi)
Sun versus wind in Henderson County
Henderson County gets 4.19 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,223 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,546. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.3 times. 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.