Wind Turbine Payback in Lycoming County, PA
Wind turbine payback in Lycoming 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 Lycoming County, PA averages 3.57 m/s (8 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 4,612 kWh a year, worth $974 at PA's 21.13¢/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 Lycoming County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Lycoming County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 6.5 m/s at the hub against 3.57 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,080 kWh a year here against the turbine's 461, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 108¢/kWh, 5.1 times what PA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 6.5 m/s instead of 3.57. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of PA
Lycoming County is the 2,441st 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 Lycoming County
January is the strongest month here, at 4.27 m/s and about 680 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.79 m/s and 172 kWh, so the best month makes 4.0 times the worst. November to March brings in 60% of the year's output in Lycoming County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.27 m/s | 680 kWh | $144 |
| February | 4.38 m/s | 663 kWh | $140 |
| March | 4.25 m/s | 669 kWh | $141 |
| April | 3.98 m/s | 533 kWh | $113 |
| May | 3.34 m/s | 317 kWh | $67 |
| June | 3.03 m/s | 221 kWh | $47 |
| July | 2.82 m/s | 179 kWh | $38 |
| August | 2.79 m/s | 172 kWh | $36 |
| September | 3.03 m/s | 221 kWh | $47 |
| October | 3.43 m/s | 344 kWh | $73 |
| November | 3.69 m/s | 419 kWh | $89 |
| December | 3.95 m/s | 537 kWh | $113 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Lycoming County averages 2.21 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.47 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.438, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 2,578 to 9,160 kWh a year, 255% 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 | 2.99 m/s | 2,578 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.57 m/s | 4,627 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 4.05 m/s | 6,851 kWh | 69 years |
| 50 m | 4.47 m/s | 9,160 kWh | 52 years |
Counties around Lycoming County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Tioga County, averages 3.86 m/s.
- Union County, PA: 3.38 m/s, 3,868 kWh, payback over 100 years (26 mi)
- Sullivan County, PA: 3.61 m/s, 4,778 kWh, payback 99 years (29 mi)
- Montour County, PA: 3.38 m/s, 3,868 kWh, payback over 100 years (30 mi)
- Clinton County, PA: 3.42 m/s, 4,018 kWh, payback over 100 years (31 mi)
- Tioga County, PA: 3.86 m/s, 5,894 kWh, payback 80 years (31 mi)
- Northumberland County, PA: 3.38 m/s, 3,868 kWh, payback over 100 years (38 mi)
Sun versus wind in Lycoming County
Lycoming County gets 3.7 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,080 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 461. 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.