Wind Turbine Payback in Lehigh County, PA
Wind turbine payback in Lehigh 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 Lehigh County, PA averages 3.62 m/s (8.1 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 4,820 kWh a year, worth $1,018 at PA's 21.13¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 98 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Lehigh County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Lehigh County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 6.5 m/s at the hub against 3.62 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,127 kWh a year here against the turbine's 482, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 104¢/kWh, 4.9 times what PA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 6.5 m/s instead of 3.62. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of PA
Lehigh County is the 2,367th 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 Lehigh County
March is the strongest month here, at 4.34 m/s and about 714 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.76 m/s and 165 kWh, so the best month makes 4.3 times the worst. November to March brings in 60% of the year's output in Lehigh County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.24 m/s | 668 kWh | $141 |
| February | 4.42 m/s | 681 kWh | $144 |
| March | 4.34 m/s | 714 kWh | $151 |
| April | 4.05 m/s | 561 kWh | $119 |
| May | 3.36 m/s | 322 kWh | $68 |
| June | 3.07 m/s | 231 kWh | $49 |
| July | 2.83 m/s | 181 kWh | $38 |
| August | 2.76 m/s | 165 kWh | $35 |
| September | 3.05 m/s | 226 kWh | $48 |
| October | 3.54 m/s | 381 kWh | $81 |
| November | 3.77 m/s | 451 kWh | $95 |
| December | 4.00 m/s | 559 kWh | $118 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Lehigh County averages 2.31 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.46 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.409, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 2,801 to 9,100 kWh a year, 225% 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 | 3.07 m/s | 2,801 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.62 m/s | 4,816 kWh | 98 years |
| 40 m | 4.07 m/s | 6,939 kWh | 68 years |
| 50 m | 4.46 m/s | 9,100 kWh | 52 years |
Counties around Lehigh County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Montgomery County, averages 3.92 m/s.
- Northampton County, PA: 3.55 m/s, 4,530 kWh, payback over 100 years (18 mi)
- Carbon County, PA: 3.61 m/s, 4,778 kWh, payback 99 years (22 mi)
- Berks County, PA: 3.62 m/s, 4,820 kWh, payback 98 years (22 mi)
- Montgomery County, PA: 3.92 m/s, 6,182 kWh, payback 77 years (30 mi)
- Bucks County, PA: 3.54 m/s, 4,489 kWh, payback over 100 years (32 mi)
- Schuylkill County, PA: 3.6 m/s, 4,736 kWh, payback 100 years (33 mi)
Sun versus wind in Lehigh County
Lehigh County gets 3.86 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,127 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 482. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 2.3 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.