Wind Turbine Payback in Lowndes County, AL
Wind turbine payback in Lowndes 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 Lowndes County, AL averages 3 m/s (6.7 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 2,601 kWh a year, worth $429 at AL's 16.51¢/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 Lowndes County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Lowndes County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.5 m/s at the hub against 3 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,346 kWh a year here against the turbine's 260, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 192¢/kWh, 11.6 times what AL pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.5 m/s instead of 3. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of AL
Lowndes County is the 3,061st windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in AL is Mobile County at 4.72 m/s, payback 57 years.
Month by month in Lowndes County
March is the strongest month here, at 3.41 m/s and about 339 kWh. July is the weakest, 2.35 m/s and 91 kWh, so the best month makes 3.7 times the worst. November to March brings in 55% of the year's output in Lowndes County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.31 m/s | 308 kWh | $51 |
| February | 3.38 m/s | 295 kWh | $49 |
| March | 3.41 m/s | 339 kWh | $56 |
| April | 3.36 m/s | 312 kWh | $52 |
| May | 2.92 m/s | 201 kWh | $33 |
| June | 2.52 m/s | 114 kWh | $19 |
| July | 2.35 m/s | 91 kWh | $15 |
| August | 2.41 m/s | 100 kWh | $17 |
| September | 2.83 m/s | 174 kWh | $29 |
| October | 3.08 m/s | 241 kWh | $40 |
| November | 3.25 m/s | 280 kWh | $46 |
| December | 3.23 m/s | 282 kWh | $47 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Lowndes County averages 1.78 m/s; at 50 m it is 3.82 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.474, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 1,298 to 5,707 kWh a year, 340% 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 | 2.47 m/s | 1,298 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3 m/s | 2,597 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 3.44 m/s | 4,081 kWh | over 100 years |
| 50 m | 3.82 m/s | 5,707 kWh | over 100 years |
Counties around Lowndes County
4 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Autauga County, averages 3.35 m/s.
- Montgomery County, AL: 3.04 m/s, 2,721 kWh, payback over 100 years (26 mi)
- Autauga County, AL: 3.35 m/s, 3,757 kWh, payback over 100 years (27 mi)
- Butler County, AL: 3 m/s, 2,601 kWh, payback over 100 years (27 mi)
- Dallas County, AL: 3.35 m/s, 3,757 kWh, payback over 100 years (30 mi)
- Crenshaw County, AL: 3.1 m/s, 2,906 kWh, payback over 100 years (35 mi)
- Wilcox County, AL: 2.94 m/s, 2,427 kWh, payback over 100 years (40 mi)
Sun versus wind in Lowndes County
Lowndes County gets 4.61 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,346 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 260. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 5.2 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.