Wind Turbine Payback in Kenton County, KY
Wind turbine payback in Kenton 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 Kenton County, KY averages 3.7 m/s (8.3 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 5,164 kWh a year, worth $733 at KY's 14.2¢/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 Kenton County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Kenton County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.2 m/s at the hub against 3.7 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,186 kWh a year here against the turbine's 516, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 97¢/kWh, 6.8 times what KY pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.2 m/s instead of 3.7. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of KY
Kenton County is the 2,288th 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 Kenton County
January is the strongest month here, at 4.33 m/s and about 707 kWh. July is the weakest, 2.80 m/s and 173 kWh, so the best month makes 4.1 times the worst. November to March brings in 57% of the year's output in Kenton County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.33 m/s | 707 kWh | $100 |
| February | 4.36 m/s | 653 kWh | $93 |
| March | 4.33 m/s | 707 kWh | $100 |
| April | 4.32 m/s | 680 kWh | $97 |
| May | 3.53 m/s | 379 kWh | $54 |
| June | 3.12 m/s | 244 kWh | $35 |
| July | 2.80 m/s | 173 kWh | $25 |
| August | 2.85 m/s | 184 kWh | $26 |
| September | 3.15 m/s | 251 kWh | $36 |
| October | 3.66 m/s | 425 kWh | $60 |
| November | 3.92 m/s | 509 kWh | $72 |
| December | 4.03 m/s | 570 kWh | $81 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Kenton County averages 2.34 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.57 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.416, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 2,975 to 9,763 kWh a year, 228% 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 | 3.12 m/s | 2,975 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.7 m/s | 5,143 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 4.16 m/s | 7,434 kWh | 95 years |
| 50 m | 4.57 m/s | 9,763 kWh | 72 years |
Counties around Kenton County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Boone County, averages 3.91 m/s.
- Campbell County, KY: 3.7 m/s, 5,164 kWh, payback over 100 years (8 mi)
- Boone County, KY: 3.91 m/s, 6,134 kWh, payback over 100 years (11 mi)
- Hamilton County, OH: 3.7 m/s, 5,164 kWh, payback over 100 years (18 mi)
- Pendleton County, KY: 3.67 m/s, 5,034 kWh, payback over 100 years (19 mi)
- Grant County, KY: 3.67 m/s, 5,034 kWh, payback over 100 years (20 mi)
- Gallatin County, KY: 3.91 m/s, 6,134 kWh, payback over 100 years (22 mi)
Sun versus wind in Kenton County
Kenton County gets 4.06 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,186 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 516. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 2.3 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.