Wind Turbine Payback in Lucas County, OH
Wind turbine payback in Lucas 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 Lucas County, OH averages 5.93 m/s (13.3 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 19,186 kWh a year, worth $3,609 at OH's 18.81¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 28 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Lucas County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Lucas County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 6.9 m/s at the hub against 5.93 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,121 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,919, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 26¢/kWh, 1.4 times what OH pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 6.9 m/s instead of 5.93. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of OH
Lucas County is the 950th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in OH is Lake County at 6.53 m/s, payback 23 years.
Month by month in Lucas County
January is the strongest month here, at 6.82 m/s and about 2,190 kWh. August is the weakest, 4.50 m/s and 793 kWh, so the best month makes 2.8 times the worst. November to March brings in 52% of the year's output in Lucas County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.82 m/s | 2,190 kWh | $412 |
| February | 6.67 m/s | 1,893 kWh | $356 |
| March | 6.51 m/s | 1,996 kWh | $375 |
| April | 6.78 m/s | 2,093 kWh | $394 |
| May | 5.83 m/s | 1,565 kWh | $294 |
| June | 5.17 m/s | 1,125 kWh | $212 |
| July | 4.63 m/s | 862 kWh | $162 |
| August | 4.50 m/s | 793 kWh | $149 |
| September | 5.09 m/s | 1,079 kWh | $203 |
| October | 6.20 m/s | 1,800 kWh | $339 |
| November | 6.56 m/s | 1,959 kWh | $368 |
| December | 6.54 m/s | 2,013 kWh | $379 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Lucas County averages 4.63 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.66 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.226, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 15,421 to 24,582 kWh a year, 59% 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 | 5.41 m/s | 15,421 kWh | 35 years |
| 30 m | 5.93 m/s | 19,214 kWh | 28 years |
| 40 m | 6.33 m/s | 22,169 kWh | 24 years |
| 50 m | 6.66 m/s | 24,582 kWh | 22 years |
Counties around Lucas County
4 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Ottawa County, averages 6.2 m/s.
- Monroe County, MI: 6.03 m/s, 19,926 kWh, payback 23 years (16 mi)
- Wood County, OH: 5.93 m/s, 19,186 kWh, payback 28 years (24 mi)
- Ottawa County, OH: 6.2 m/s, 21,187 kWh, payback 25 years (25 mi)
- Sandusky County, OH: 6.2 m/s, 21,187 kWh, payback 25 years (28 mi)
- Fulton County, OH: 5.92 m/s, 19,112 kWh, payback 28 years (34 mi)
- Lenawee County, MI: 6.12 m/s, 20,594 kWh, payback 22 years (35 mi)
Sun versus wind in Lucas County
Lucas County gets 3.84 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,121 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,919. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.7 times. 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.