Wind Turbine Payback in Huntingdon County, PA
Wind turbine payback in Huntingdon 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 Huntingdon County, PA averages 3.52 m/s (7.9 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 4,408 kWh a year, worth $931 at PA's 21.13¢/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 Huntingdon County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Huntingdon County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 6.5 m/s at the hub against 3.52 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,110 kWh a year here against the turbine's 441, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 113¢/kWh, 5.4 times what PA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 6.5 m/s instead of 3.52. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of PA
Huntingdon County is the 2,490th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in PA is Philadelphia County at 4.74 m/s, payback 44 years.
Month by month in Huntingdon County
January is the strongest month here, at 4.37 m/s and about 731 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.61 m/s and 135 kWh, so the best month makes 5.4 times the worst. November to March brings in 63% of the year's output in Huntingdon County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.37 m/s | 731 kWh | $154 |
| February | 4.43 m/s | 685 kWh | $145 |
| March | 4.21 m/s | 651 kWh | $138 |
| April | 3.96 m/s | 525 kWh | $111 |
| May | 3.24 m/s | 285 kWh | $60 |
| June | 2.92 m/s | 195 kWh | $41 |
| July | 2.70 m/s | 152 kWh | $32 |
| August | 2.61 m/s | 135 kWh | $29 |
| September | 2.83 m/s | 175 kWh | $37 |
| October | 3.35 m/s | 319 kWh | $67 |
| November | 3.65 m/s | 407 kWh | $86 |
| December | 4.00 m/s | 559 kWh | $118 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Huntingdon County averages 2.15 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.42 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.448, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 2,404 to 8,865 kWh a year, 269% 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 | 2.93 m/s | 2,404 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.52 m/s | 4,392 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 4 m/s | 6,575 kWh | 72 years |
| 50 m | 4.42 m/s | 8,865 kWh | 53 years |
Counties around Huntingdon County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Franklin County, averages 3.99 m/s.
- Blair County, PA: 3.52 m/s, 4,408 kWh, payback over 100 years (19 mi)
- Mifflin County, PA: 3.41 m/s, 3,980 kWh, payback over 100 years (21 mi)
- Juniata County, PA: 3.41 m/s, 3,980 kWh, payback over 100 years (31 mi)
- Centre County, PA: 3.6 m/s, 4,736 kWh, payback 100 years (34 mi)
- Fulton County, PA: 3.45 m/s, 4,133 kWh, payback over 100 years (36 mi)
- Franklin County, PA: 3.99 m/s, 6,527 kWh, payback 73 years (37 mi)
Sun versus wind in Huntingdon County
Huntingdon County gets 3.8 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,110 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 441. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 2.5 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.