Wind Turbine Payback in Leelanau County, MI
Wind turbine payback in Leelanau County
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 Leelanau County, MI averages 7.3 m/s (16.3 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 29,160 kWh a year, worth $6,336 at MI's 21.73¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 16 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Leelanau County
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 6.4 m/s pays back in time. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,060 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,916, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power already costs enough here: break-even is 17¢/kWh and MI pays 21.73¢.
- The wind clears the break-even speed of 6.4 m/s at today's price.
Against the rest of MI
Leelanau County is the 9th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in MI is Keweenaw County at 7.4 m/s, payback 15 years.
Month by month in Leelanau County
January is the strongest month here, at 8.42 m/s and about 3,095 kWh. July is the weakest, 5.76 m/s and 1,525 kWh, so the best month makes 2.0 times the worst. November to March brings in 50% of the year's output in Leelanau County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8.42 m/s | 3,095 kWh | $673 |
| February | 8.24 m/s | 2,712 kWh | $589 |
| March | 7.48 m/s | 2,584 kWh | $562 |
| April | 7.53 m/s | 2,526 kWh | $549 |
| May | 6.82 m/s | 2,190 kWh | $476 |
| June | 6.18 m/s | 1,727 kWh | $375 |
| July | 5.76 m/s | 1,525 kWh | $331 |
| August | 5.85 m/s | 1,578 kWh | $343 |
| September | 6.84 m/s | 2,130 kWh | $463 |
| October | 7.91 m/s | 2,822 kWh | $613 |
| November | 8.35 m/s | 2,958 kWh | $643 |
| December | 8.39 m/s | 3,080 kWh | $669 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Leelanau County averages 6.39 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.77 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.121, typical of very open, smooth ground where height adds little. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 26,718 to 32,343 kWh a year, 21% more, before counting the extra cost of the taller tower.
| Hub height | Average wind | Output | Payback |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 m | 6.95 m/s | 26,718 kWh | 17 years |
| 30 m | 7.3 m/s | 29,189 kWh | 16 years |
| 40 m | 7.56 m/s | 30,963 kWh | 15 years |
| 50 m | 7.77 m/s | 32,343 kWh | 14 years |
Counties around Leelanau County
None of the 6 closest counties is windier than Leelanau County.
- Benzie County, MI: 6.94 m/s, 26,613 kWh, payback 17 years (36 mi)
- Grand Traverse County, MI: 6.23 m/s, 21,410 kWh, payback 22 years (38 mi)
- Charlevoix County, MI: 7.15 m/s, 28,109 kWh, payback 16 years (41 mi)
- Antrim County, MI: 6.06 m/s, 20,149 kWh, payback 23 years (44 mi)
- Door County, WI: 7.26 m/s, 28,881 kWh, payback 18 years (49 mi)
- Kalkaska County, MI: 5.29 m/s, 14,538 kWh, payback 32 years (57 mi)
Sun versus wind in Leelanau County
Leelanau County gets 3.63 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,060 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,916. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 2.8 times. Panel output assumes an 80% system performance ratio.
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.