Wind Turbine Payback in Herkimer County, NY
Wind turbine payback in Herkimer 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 Herkimer County, NY averages 3.83 m/s (8.6 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 5,753 kWh a year, worth $1,683 at NY's 29.26¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 59 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Herkimer County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Herkimer County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 5.6 m/s at the hub against 3.83 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,040 kWh a year here against the turbine's 575, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 87¢/kWh, 3.0 times what NY pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 5.6 m/s instead of 3.83. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of NY
Herkimer County is the 2,190th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in NY is Niagara County at 6.87 m/s, payback 13 years.
Month by month in Herkimer County
February is the strongest month here, at 4.87 m/s and about 897 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.97 m/s and 213 kWh, so the best month makes 4.2 times the worst. November to March brings in 62% of the year's output in Herkimer County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.66 m/s | 878 kWh | $257 |
| February | 4.87 m/s | 897 kWh | $262 |
| March | 4.57 m/s | 831 kWh | $243 |
| April | 4.23 m/s | 638 kWh | $187 |
| May | 3.52 m/s | 374 kWh | $109 |
| June | 3.15 m/s | 251 kWh | $73 |
| July | 2.98 m/s | 217 kWh | $63 |
| August | 2.97 m/s | 213 kWh | $62 |
| September | 3.19 m/s | 262 kWh | $77 |
| October | 3.62 m/s | 408 kWh | $119 |
| November | 3.94 m/s | 517 kWh | $151 |
| December | 4.30 m/s | 694 kWh | $203 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Herkimer County averages 2.44 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.72 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 3,373 to 10,698 kWh a year, 217% 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 | 3.24 m/s | 3,373 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.83 m/s | 5,745 kWh | 60 years |
| 40 m | 4.31 m/s | 8,218 kWh | 42 years |
| 50 m | 4.72 m/s | 10,698 kWh | 32 years |
Counties around Herkimer County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Lewis County, averages 4.03 m/s.
- Hamilton County, NY: 3.83 m/s, 5,753 kWh, payback 59 years (18 mi)
- Lewis County, NY: 4.03 m/s, 6,729 kWh, payback 51 years (33 mi)
- Oneida County, NY: 3.88 m/s, 5,989 kWh, payback 57 years (37 mi)
- Fulton County, NY: 3.61 m/s, 4,778 kWh, payback 72 years (38 mi)
- Warren County, NY: 3.44 m/s, 4,094 kWh, payback 84 years (50 mi)
- Montgomery County, NY: 3.61 m/s, 4,778 kWh, payback 72 years (51 mi)
Sun versus wind in Herkimer County
Herkimer County gets 3.56 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,040 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 575. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.8 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.