Wind Turbine Payback in Louisa County, VA
Wind turbine payback in Louisa 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 Louisa County, VA averages 3.13 m/s (7 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 3,002 kWh a year, worth $509 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 Louisa County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Louisa County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.3 m/s at the hub against 3.13 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,247 kWh a year here against the turbine's 300, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 167¢/kWh, 9.8 times what VA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.3 m/s instead of 3.13. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of VA
Louisa County is the 2,968th 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 Louisa County
March is the strongest month here, at 3.67 m/s and about 426 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.44 m/s and 105 kWh, so the best month makes 4.1 times the worst. November to March brings in 55% of the year's output in Louisa County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.50 m/s | 368 kWh | $62 |
| February | 3.65 m/s | 380 kWh | $64 |
| March | 3.67 m/s | 426 kWh | $72 |
| April | 3.59 m/s | 385 kWh | $65 |
| May | 3.03 m/s | 229 kWh | $39 |
| June | 2.76 m/s | 159 kWh | $27 |
| July | 2.51 m/s | 117 kWh | $20 |
| August | 2.44 m/s | 105 kWh | $18 |
| September | 2.80 m/s | 167 kWh | $28 |
| October | 3.11 m/s | 250 kWh | $42 |
| November | 3.27 m/s | 287 kWh | $49 |
| December | 3.24 m/s | 285 kWh | $48 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Louisa County averages 1.85 m/s; at 50 m it is 3.99 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.478, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 1,510 to 6,527 kWh a year, 332% 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 | 2.57 m/s | 1,510 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.13 m/s | 2,988 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 3.59 m/s | 4,679 kWh | over 100 years |
| 50 m | 3.99 m/s | 6,527 kWh | 90 years |
Counties around Louisa County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Charlottesville city, averages 3.27 m/s.
- Goochland County, VA: 3.11 m/s, 2,938 kWh, payback over 100 years (18 mi)
- Orange County, VA: 3.13 m/s, 3,002 kWh, payback over 100 years (19 mi)
- Fluvanna County, VA: 3.13 m/s, 3,002 kWh, payback over 100 years (20 mi)
- Spotsylvania County, VA: 3.26 m/s, 3,436 kWh, payback over 100 years (22 mi)
- Charlottesville city, VA: 3.27 m/s, 3,471 kWh, payback over 100 years (29 mi)
- Powhatan County, VA: 3.11 m/s, 2,938 kWh, payback over 100 years (29 mi)
Sun versus wind in Louisa County
Louisa County gets 4.27 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,247 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 300. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 4.2 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.