Wind Turbine Payback in Kodiak Island Borough, AK
Wind turbine payback in Kodiak Island Borough
Only just. The money comes back late in the turbine's life.
At 30 m, the height a home turbine tower usually reaches, the wind in Kodiak Island Borough, AK averages 5.87 m/s (13.1 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 18,742 kWh a year, worth $5,120 at AK's 27.32¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 20 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Kodiak Island Borough
It is close enough that your own site decides it. If you have open land with no trees or buildings upwind, ask an installer to log the wind at 30 m or higher; anything above 5.8 m/s pays back in time. Per kW, solar panels would make about 715 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,874, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power already costs enough here: break-even is 27¢/kWh and AK pays 27.32¢.
- The wind clears the break-even speed of 5.8 m/s at today's price.
Against the rest of AK
Kodiak Island Borough is the 1,026th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in AK is Aleutians West Census Area at 9.35 m/s, payback 9 years.
Month by month in Kodiak Island Borough
December is the strongest month here, at 7.13 m/s and about 2,378 kWh. July is the weakest, 4.43 m/s and 759 kWh, so the best month makes 3.1 times the worst. November to March brings in 56% of the year's output in Kodiak Island Borough.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.90 m/s | 2,237 kWh | $611 |
| February | 6.82 m/s | 1,975 kWh | $540 |
| March | 6.21 m/s | 1,805 kWh | $493 |
| April | 5.88 m/s | 1,544 kWh | $422 |
| May | 5.09 m/s | 1,116 kWh | $305 |
| June | 4.51 m/s | 771 kWh | $211 |
| July | 4.43 m/s | 759 kWh | $207 |
| August | 4.84 m/s | 974 kWh | $266 |
| September | 5.67 m/s | 1,421 kWh | $388 |
| October | 6.24 m/s | 1,822 kWh | $498 |
| November | 6.84 m/s | 2,127 kWh | $581 |
| December | 7.13 m/s | 2,378 kWh | $650 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Kodiak Island Borough averages 4.97 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.35 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.152, typical of very open, smooth ground where height adds little. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 16,213 to 22,299 kWh a year, 38% 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 | 5.52 m/s | 16,213 kWh | 23 years |
| 30 m | 5.88 m/s | 18,784 kWh | 20 years |
| 40 m | 6.14 m/s | 20,729 kWh | 18 years |
| 50 m | 6.35 m/s | 22,299 kWh | 16 years |
Counties around Kodiak Island Borough
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Lake and Peninsula Borough, averages 6.45 m/s.
- Lake and Peninsula Borough, AK: 6.45 m/s, 23,038 kWh, payback 16 years (96 mi)
- Bristol Bay Borough, AK: 6.2 m/s, 21,187 kWh, payback 17 years (132 mi)
- Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK: 3.87 m/s, 5,942 kWh, payback 62 years (192 mi)
- Dillingham Census Area, AK: 6.07 m/s, 20,223 kWh, payback 18 years (201 mi)
- Anchorage Municipality, AK: 3.5 m/s, 4,329 kWh, payback 85 years (290 mi)
- Bethel Census Area, AK: 5.27 m/s, 14,397 kWh, payback 25 years (313 mi)
Sun versus wind in Kodiak Island Borough
Kodiak Island Borough gets 2.45 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 715 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,874. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 2.6 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.