Wind Turbine Payback in Horry County, SC
Wind turbine payback in Horry 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 Horry County, SC averages 5.29 m/s (11.8 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 14,538 kWh a year, worth $2,312 at SC's 15.9¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 43 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Horry County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Horry County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.6 m/s at the hub against 5.29 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,352 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,454, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 34¢/kWh, 2.2 times what SC pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.6 m/s instead of 5.29. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of SC
Horry County is the 1,328th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in SC is Beaufort County at 5.71 m/s, payback 36 years.
Month by month in Horry County
April is the strongest month here, at 6.05 m/s and about 1,647 kWh. August is the weakest, 4.27 m/s and 680 kWh, so the best month makes 2.4 times the worst. November to March brings in 49% of the year's output in Horry County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.72 m/s | 1,499 kWh | $238 |
| February | 5.88 m/s | 1,446 kWh | $230 |
| March | 5.91 m/s | 1,617 kWh | $257 |
| April | 6.05 m/s | 1,647 kWh | $262 |
| May | 5.34 m/s | 1,263 kWh | $201 |
| June | 4.73 m/s | 883 kWh | $140 |
| July | 4.63 m/s | 860 kWh | $137 |
| August | 4.27 m/s | 680 kWh | $108 |
| September | 4.97 m/s | 1,013 kWh | $161 |
| October | 5.14 m/s | 1,145 kWh | $182 |
| November | 5.38 m/s | 1,248 kWh | $198 |
| December | 5.52 m/s | 1,372 kWh | $218 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Horry County averages 4.19 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.9 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.213, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 11,563 to 18,964 kWh a year, 64% 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 | 4.85 m/s | 11,563 kWh | 54 years |
| 30 m | 5.29 m/s | 14,550 kWh | 43 years |
| 40 m | 5.63 m/s | 16,952 kWh | 37 years |
| 50 m | 5.9 m/s | 18,964 kWh | 33 years |
Counties around Horry County
None of the 6 closest counties is windier than Horry County.
- Marion County, SC: 4.95 m/s, 12,199 kWh, payback 52 years (25 mi)
- Columbus County, NC: 4.42 m/s, 8,865 kWh, payback 76 years (31 mi)
- Georgetown County, SC: 4.38 m/s, 8,632 kWh, payback 73 years (39 mi)
- Dillon County, SC: 5 m/s, 12,535 kWh, payback 50 years (40 mi)
- Florence County, SC: 4.98 m/s, 12,400 kWh, payback 51 years (43 mi)
- Brunswick County, NC: 4.73 m/s, 10,762 kWh, payback 62 years (44 mi)
Sun versus wind in Horry County
Horry County gets 4.63 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,352 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,454. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.1 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.