Wind Turbine Payback in Hoonah-Angoon Census Area, AK
Wind turbine payback in Hoonah-Angoon Census Area
No. The turbine wears out before it pays for itself.
At 30 m, the height a home turbine tower usually reaches, the wind in Hoonah-Angoon Census Area, AK averages 4.48 m/s (10 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 9,219 kWh a year, worth $2,519 at AK's 27.32¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 40 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Hoonah-Angoon Census Area
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Hoonah-Angoon Census Area unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 5.8 m/s at the hub against 4.48 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 695 kWh a year here against the turbine's 922, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 54¢/kWh, 2.0 times what AK pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 5.8 m/s instead of 4.48. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of AK
Hoonah-Angoon Census Area is the 1,759th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in AK is Aleutians West Census Area at 9.35 m/s, payback 9 years.
Month by month in Hoonah-Angoon Census Area
January is the strongest month here, at 6.01 m/s and about 1,679 kWh. June is the weakest, 2.90 m/s and 190 kWh, so the best month makes 8.8 times the worst. November to March brings in 70% of the year's output in Hoonah-Angoon Census Area.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.01 m/s | 1,679 kWh | $459 |
| February | 5.27 m/s | 1,102 kWh | $301 |
| March | 5.41 m/s | 1,308 kWh | $357 |
| April | 3.94 m/s | 514 kWh | $140 |
| May | 3.17 m/s | 267 kWh | $73 |
| June | 2.90 m/s | 190 kWh | $52 |
| July | 2.94 m/s | 205 kWh | $56 |
| August | 3.27 m/s | 296 kWh | $81 |
| September | 4.19 m/s | 623 kWh | $170 |
| October | 4.92 m/s | 1,017 kWh | $278 |
| November | 5.85 m/s | 1,530 kWh | $418 |
| December | 5.89 m/s | 1,604 kWh | $438 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Hoonah-Angoon Census Area averages 3.72 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.88 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.169, typical of very open, smooth ground where height adds little. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 7,515 to 11,734 kWh a year, 56% 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 | 4.18 m/s | 7,515 kWh | 49 years |
| 30 m | 4.48 m/s | 9,198 kWh | 40 years |
| 40 m | 4.7 m/s | 10,568 kWh | 35 years |
| 50 m | 4.88 m/s | 11,734 kWh | 31 years |
Counties around Hoonah-Angoon Census Area
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Sitka City and Borough, averages 6.4 m/s.
- Haines Borough, AK: 3.76 m/s, 5,432 kWh, payback 67 years (49 mi)
- Juneau City and Borough, AK: 3.89 m/s, 6,037 kWh, payback 61 years (62 mi)
- Skagway Municipality, AK: 2.81 m/s, 2,073 kWh, payback over 100 years (82 mi)
- Sitka City and Borough, AK: 6.4 m/s, 22,669 kWh, payback 16 years (86 mi)
- Petersburg Borough, AK: 3.97 m/s, 6,428 kWh, payback 57 years (139 mi)
- Yakutat City and Borough, AK: 3.62 m/s, 4,820 kWh, payback 76 years (195 mi)
Sun versus wind in Hoonah-Angoon Census Area
Hoonah-Angoon Census Area gets 2.38 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 695 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 922. 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.