Wind Turbine Payback in Macon County, AL
Wind turbine payback in Macon 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 Macon County, AL averages 3.26 m/s (7.3 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 3,436 kWh a year, worth $567 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 Macon County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Macon County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.5 m/s at the hub against 3.26 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,346 kWh a year here against the turbine's 344, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 146¢/kWh, 8.8 times what AL pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.5 m/s instead of 3.26. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of AL
Macon County is the 2,801st 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 Macon County
March is the strongest month here, at 3.72 m/s and about 444 kWh. July is the weakest, 2.55 m/s and 124 kWh, so the best month makes 3.6 times the worst. November to March brings in 55% of the year's output in Macon County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.63 m/s | 412 kWh | $68 |
| February | 3.69 m/s | 393 kWh | $65 |
| March | 3.72 m/s | 444 kWh | $73 |
| April | 3.65 m/s | 407 kWh | $67 |
| May | 3.15 m/s | 260 kWh | $43 |
| June | 2.68 m/s | 144 kWh | $24 |
| July | 2.55 m/s | 124 kWh | $20 |
| August | 2.59 m/s | 130 kWh | $21 |
| September | 3.07 m/s | 232 kWh | $38 |
| October | 3.34 m/s | 316 kWh | $52 |
| November | 3.53 m/s | 366 kWh | $60 |
| December | 3.53 m/s | 378 kWh | $62 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Macon County averages 2.02 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.07 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.435, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 1,875 to 6,934 kWh a year, 270% 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 | 2.73 m/s | 1,875 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.26 m/s | 3,433 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 3.69 m/s | 5,136 kWh | over 100 years |
| 50 m | 4.07 m/s | 6,934 kWh | 87 years |
Counties around Macon County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Elmore County, averages 3.88 m/s.
- Bullock County, AL: 3.04 m/s, 2,721 kWh, payback over 100 years (20 mi)
- Lee County, AL: 3.26 m/s, 3,436 kWh, payback over 100 years (25 mi)
- Elmore County, AL: 3.88 m/s, 5,989 kWh, payback over 100 years (30 mi)
- Russell County, AL: 3.12 m/s, 2,970 kWh, payback over 100 years (30 mi)
- Montgomery County, AL: 3.04 m/s, 2,721 kWh, payback over 100 years (32 mi)
- Tallapoosa County, AL: 3.11 m/s, 2,938 kWh, payback over 100 years (33 mi)
Sun versus wind in Macon County
Macon 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 344. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 3.9 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.