Wind Turbine Payback in Lawrence County, PA
Wind turbine payback in Lawrence 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 Lawrence County, PA averages 3.55 m/s (7.9 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 4,530 kWh a year, worth $957 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 Lawrence County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Lawrence County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 6.5 m/s at the hub against 3.55 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,098 kWh a year here against the turbine's 453, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 110¢/kWh, 5.2 times what PA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 6.5 m/s instead of 3.55. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of PA
Lawrence County is the 2,459th 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 Lawrence County
January is the strongest month here, at 4.28 m/s and about 684 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.75 m/s and 164 kWh, so the best month makes 4.2 times the worst. November to March brings in 59% of the year's output in Lawrence County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.28 m/s | 684 kWh | $145 |
| February | 4.33 m/s | 639 kWh | $135 |
| March | 4.09 m/s | 597 kWh | $126 |
| April | 4.00 m/s | 540 kWh | $114 |
| May | 3.32 m/s | 310 kWh | $66 |
| June | 3.07 m/s | 232 kWh | $49 |
| July | 2.81 m/s | 176 kWh | $37 |
| August | 2.75 m/s | 164 kWh | $35 |
| September | 2.97 m/s | 206 kWh | $44 |
| October | 3.48 m/s | 361 kWh | $76 |
| November | 3.71 m/s | 429 kWh | $91 |
| December | 3.90 m/s | 518 kWh | $109 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Lawrence County averages 2.19 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.45 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.441, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 2,515 to 9,041 kWh a year, 259% 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 | 2.97 m/s | 2,515 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.55 m/s | 4,540 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 4.03 m/s | 6,744 kWh | 70 years |
| 50 m | 4.45 m/s | 9,041 kWh | 52 years |
Counties around Lawrence County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Trumbull County, averages 3.74 m/s.
- Beaver County, PA: 3.44 m/s, 4,094 kWh, payback over 100 years (21 mi)
- Mercer County, PA: 3.66 m/s, 4,991 kWh, payback 95 years (22 mi)
- Butler County, PA: 3.49 m/s, 4,289 kWh, payback over 100 years (22 mi)
- Mahoning County, OH: 3.55 m/s, 4,530 kWh, payback over 100 years (23 mi)
- Columbiana County, OH: 3.55 m/s, 4,530 kWh, payback over 100 years (28 mi)
- Trumbull County, OH: 3.74 m/s, 5,342 kWh, payback 100 years (31 mi)
Sun versus wind in Lawrence County
Lawrence County gets 3.76 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,098 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 453. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 2.4 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.