Wind Turbine Payback in Lewis County, NY
Wind turbine payback in Lewis 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 Lewis County, NY averages 4.03 m/s (9 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 6,729 kWh a year, worth $1,969 at NY's 29.26¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 51 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Lewis County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Lewis County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 5.6 m/s at the hub against 4.03 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,045 kWh a year here against the turbine's 673, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 74¢/kWh, 2.5 times what NY pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 5.6 m/s instead of 4.03. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of NY
Lewis County is the 2,037th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in NY is Niagara County at 6.87 m/s, payback 13 years.
Month by month in Lewis County
January is the strongest month here, at 4.90 m/s and about 1,006 kWh. August is the weakest, 3.20 m/s and 273 kWh, so the best month makes 3.7 times the worst. November to March brings in 61% of the year's output in Lewis County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.90 m/s | 1,006 kWh | $294 |
| February | 5.08 m/s | 1,002 kWh | $293 |
| March | 4.74 m/s | 919 kWh | $269 |
| April | 4.35 m/s | 696 kWh | $204 |
| May | 3.60 m/s | 402 kWh | $118 |
| June | 3.28 m/s | 288 kWh | $84 |
| July | 3.21 m/s | 278 kWh | $81 |
| August | 3.20 m/s | 273 kWh | $80 |
| September | 3.43 m/s | 332 kWh | $97 |
| October | 3.91 m/s | 522 kWh | $153 |
| November | 4.24 m/s | 643 kWh | $188 |
| December | 4.49 m/s | 789 kWh | $231 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Lewis County averages 2.67 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.88 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.375, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 4,175 to 11,734 kWh a year, 181% 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 | 3.46 m/s | 4,175 kWh | 82 years |
| 30 m | 4.03 m/s | 6,725 kWh | 51 years |
| 40 m | 4.49 m/s | 9,269 kWh | 37 years |
| 50 m | 4.88 m/s | 11,734 kWh | 29 years |
Counties around Lewis County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Jefferson County, averages 5.05 m/s.
- Herkimer County, NY: 3.83 m/s, 5,753 kWh, payback 59 years (33 mi)
- Jefferson County, NY: 5.05 m/s, 12,873 kWh, payback 27 years (34 mi)
- Oneida County, NY: 3.88 m/s, 5,989 kWh, payback 57 years (37 mi)
- Oswego County, NY: 4.74 m/s, 10,826 kWh, payback 32 years (44 mi)
- Hamilton County, NY: 3.83 m/s, 5,753 kWh, payback 59 years (48 mi)
- St. Lawrence County, NY: 3.91 m/s, 6,134 kWh, payback 56 years (52 mi)
Sun versus wind in Lewis County
Lewis County gets 3.58 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,045 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 673. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.6 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.