Wind Turbine Payback in King and Queen County, VA
Wind turbine payback in King and Queen 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 King and Queen County, VA averages 3.77 m/s (8.4 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 5,477 kWh a year, worth $928 at VA's 16.95¢/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 King and Queen County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in King and Queen County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.3 m/s at the hub against 3.77 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,259 kWh a year here against the turbine's 548, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 91¢/kWh, 5.4 times what VA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.3 m/s instead of 3.77. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of VA
King and Queen County is the 2,225th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in VA is Northampton County at 7.01 m/s, payback 22 years.
Month by month in King and Queen County
March is the strongest month here, at 4.36 m/s and about 721 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.99 m/s and 219 kWh, so the best month makes 3.3 times the worst. November to March brings in 54% of the year's output in King and Queen County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.19 m/s | 643 kWh | $109 |
| February | 4.33 m/s | 640 kWh | $108 |
| March | 4.36 m/s | 721 kWh | $122 |
| April | 4.32 m/s | 682 kWh | $116 |
| May | 3.70 m/s | 440 kWh | $75 |
| June | 3.32 m/s | 299 kWh | $51 |
| July | 3.08 m/s | 241 kWh | $41 |
| August | 2.99 m/s | 219 kWh | $37 |
| September | 3.41 m/s | 329 kWh | $56 |
| October | 3.72 m/s | 446 kWh | $76 |
| November | 3.93 m/s | 514 kWh | $87 |
| December | 3.96 m/s | 541 kWh | $92 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in King and Queen County averages 2.49 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.57 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.377, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 3,351 to 9,763 kWh a year, 191% 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 | 3,351 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.77 m/s | 5,475 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 4.2 m/s | 7,630 kWh | 77 years |
| 50 m | 4.57 m/s | 9,763 kWh | 60 years |
Counties around King and Queen County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Middlesex County, averages 5.5 m/s.
- King William County, VA: 3.77 m/s, 5,477 kWh, payback over 100 years (10 mi)
- Essex County, VA: 3.63 m/s, 4,862 kWh, payback over 100 years (15 mi)
- New Kent County, VA: 3.77 m/s, 5,477 kWh, payback over 100 years (15 mi)
- Richmond County, VA: 3.63 m/s, 4,862 kWh, payback over 100 years (18 mi)
- Middlesex County, VA: 5.5 m/s, 16,037 kWh, payback 37 years (22 mi)
- Charles City County, VA: 3.77 m/s, 5,477 kWh, payback over 100 years (26 mi)
Sun versus wind in King and Queen County
King and Queen County gets 4.31 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,259 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 548. 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.