Wind Turbine Payback in Madison County, OH
Wind turbine payback in Madison 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 Madison County, OH averages 5.54 m/s (12.4 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 16,326 kWh a year, worth $3,071 at OH's 18.81¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 33 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Madison County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Madison County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 6.9 m/s at the hub against 5.54 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,165 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,633, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 31¢/kWh, 1.6 times what OH pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 6.9 m/s instead of 5.54. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of OH
Madison County is the 1,186th 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 Madison County
January is the strongest month here, at 6.48 m/s and about 1,975 kWh. August is the weakest, 4.12 m/s and 613 kWh, so the best month makes 3.2 times the worst. November to March brings in 54% of the year's output in Madison County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.48 m/s | 1,975 kWh | $371 |
| February | 6.36 m/s | 1,718 kWh | $323 |
| March | 6.31 m/s | 1,869 kWh | $352 |
| April | 6.43 m/s | 1,879 kWh | $353 |
| May | 5.36 m/s | 1,279 kWh | $241 |
| June | 4.81 m/s | 929 kWh | $175 |
| July | 4.15 m/s | 625 kWh | $118 |
| August | 4.12 m/s | 613 kWh | $115 |
| September | 4.60 m/s | 819 kWh | $154 |
| October | 5.65 m/s | 1,453 kWh | $273 |
| November | 6.08 m/s | 1,669 kWh | $314 |
| December | 6.15 m/s | 1,769 kWh | $333 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Madison County averages 4.26 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.26 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.239, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 12,730 to 21,632 kWh a year, 70% 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 | 5.03 m/s | 12,730 kWh | 42 years |
| 30 m | 5.54 m/s | 16,330 kWh | 33 years |
| 40 m | 5.93 m/s | 19,222 kWh | 28 years |
| 50 m | 6.26 m/s | 21,632 kWh | 25 years |
Counties around Madison County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Union County, averages 5.8 m/s.
- Clark County, OH: 5.76 m/s, 17,932 kWh, payback 30 years (20 mi)
- Franklin County, OH: 5.54 m/s, 16,326 kWh, payback 33 years (21 mi)
- Fayette County, OH: 5.48 m/s, 15,893 kWh, payback 34 years (24 mi)
- Pickaway County, OH: 4.88 m/s, 11,734 kWh, payback 45 years (25 mi)
- Champaign County, OH: 5.76 m/s, 17,932 kWh, payback 30 years (25 mi)
- Union County, OH: 5.8 m/s, 18,226 kWh, payback 29 years (28 mi)
Sun versus wind in Madison County
Madison County gets 3.99 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,165 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,633. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.4 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.