Wind Turbine Payback in Kitsap County, WA
Wind turbine payback in Kitsap 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 Kitsap County, WA averages 2.97 m/s (6.6 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 2,513 kWh a year, worth $362 at WA's 14.42¢/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 Kitsap County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Kitsap County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.1 m/s at the hub against 2.97 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 999 kWh a year here against the turbine's 251, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 199¢/kWh, 13.8 times what WA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.1 m/s instead of 2.97. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of WA
Kitsap County is the 3,068th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in WA is Columbia County at 5.18 m/s, payback 50 years.
Month by month in Kitsap County
November is the strongest month here, at 3.64 m/s and about 402 kWh. July is the weakest, 2.13 m/s and 59 kWh, so the best month makes 6.8 times the worst. November to March brings in 66% of the year's output in Kitsap County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.59 m/s | 398 kWh | $57 |
| February | 3.26 m/s | 264 kWh | $38 |
| March | 3.52 m/s | 374 kWh | $54 |
| April | 3.05 m/s | 226 kWh | $33 |
| May | 2.50 m/s | 114 kWh | $16 |
| June | 2.37 m/s | 90 kWh | $13 |
| July | 2.13 m/s | 59 kWh | $9 |
| August | 2.26 m/s | 77 kWh | $11 |
| September | 2.61 m/s | 131 kWh | $19 |
| October | 3.11 m/s | 249 kWh | $36 |
| November | 3.64 m/s | 402 kWh | $58 |
| December | 3.57 m/s | 392 kWh | $57 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Kitsap County averages 2.04 m/s; at 50 m it is 3.53 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.341, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 1,527 to 4,449 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 | 2.58 m/s | 1,527 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 2.97 m/s | 2,501 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 3.27 m/s | 3,476 kWh | over 100 years |
| 50 m | 3.53 m/s | 4,449 kWh | over 100 years |
Counties around Kitsap County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Jefferson County, averages 3.01 m/s.
- Mason County, WA: 2.6 m/s, 1,565 kWh, payback over 100 years (32 mi)
- Island County, WA: 2.56 m/s, 1,477 kWh, payback over 100 years (36 mi)
- King County, WA: 2.75 m/s, 1,920 kWh, payback over 100 years (39 mi)
- Jefferson County, WA: 3.01 m/s, 2,631 kWh, payback over 100 years (42 mi)
- Pierce County, WA: 2.87 m/s, 2,232 kWh, payback over 100 years (47 mi)
- Thurston County, WA: 2.81 m/s, 2,073 kWh, payback over 100 years (49 mi)
Sun versus wind in Kitsap County
Kitsap County gets 3.42 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 999 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 251. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 4.0 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.