Wind Turbine Payback in Lee County, VA
Wind turbine payback in Lee 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 Lee County, VA averages 3.18 m/s (7.1 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 3,165 kWh a year, worth $536 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 Lee County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Lee County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.3 m/s at the hub against 3.18 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,232 kWh a year here against the turbine's 317, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 158¢/kWh, 9.3 times what VA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.3 m/s instead of 3.18. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of VA
Lee County is the 2,904th 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 Lee County
March is the strongest month here, at 3.82 m/s and about 485 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.37 m/s and 93 kWh, so the best month makes 5.2 times the worst. November to March brings in 59% of the year's output in Lee County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.73 m/s | 451 kWh | $76 |
| February | 3.87 m/s | 455 kWh | $77 |
| March | 3.82 m/s | 485 kWh | $82 |
| April | 3.74 m/s | 439 kWh | $74 |
| May | 3.09 m/s | 243 kWh | $41 |
| June | 2.67 m/s | 141 kWh | $24 |
| July | 2.46 m/s | 108 kWh | $18 |
| August | 2.37 m/s | 93 kWh | $16 |
| September | 2.64 m/s | 136 kWh | $23 |
| October | 3.07 m/s | 239 kWh | $41 |
| November | 3.30 m/s | 293 kWh | $50 |
| December | 3.48 m/s | 361 kWh | $61 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Lee County averages 2.01 m/s; at 50 m it is 3.94 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.418, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 1,764 to 6,280 kWh a year, 256% 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 | 2.69 m/s | 1,764 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.18 m/s | 3,173 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 3.59 m/s | 4,691 kWh | over 100 years |
| 50 m | 3.94 m/s | 6,280 kWh | 94 years |
Counties around Lee County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Scott County, averages 3.68 m/s.
- Harlan County, KY: 3.21 m/s, 3,265 kWh, payback over 100 years (12 mi)
- Hancock County, TN: 3.18 m/s, 3,165 kWh, payback over 100 years (14 mi)
- Hawkins County, TN: 3.18 m/s, 3,165 kWh, payback over 100 years (20 mi)
- Scott County, VA: 3.68 m/s, 5,077 kWh, payback over 100 years (29 mi)
- Leslie County, KY: 3.21 m/s, 3,265 kWh, payback over 100 years (30 mi)
- Bell County, KY: 3.14 m/s, 3,034 kWh, payback over 100 years (31 mi)
Sun versus wind in Lee County
Lee County gets 4.22 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,232 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 317. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 3.9 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.