Wind Turbine Payback in Mason County, KY
Wind turbine payback in Mason 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 Mason County, KY averages 3.42 m/s (7.7 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 4,018 kWh a year, worth $571 at KY's 14.2¢/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 Mason County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Mason County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.2 m/s at the hub against 3.42 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,174 kWh a year here against the turbine's 402, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 124¢/kWh, 8.8 times what KY pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.2 m/s instead of 3.42. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of KY
Mason County is the 2,596th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in KY is Fulton County at 5.54 m/s, payback 43 years.
Month by month in Mason County
January is the strongest month here, at 4.03 m/s and about 572 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.63 m/s and 139 kWh, so the best month makes 4.1 times the worst. November to March brings in 58% of the year's output in Mason County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.03 m/s | 572 kWh | $81 |
| February | 4.08 m/s | 536 kWh | $76 |
| March | 3.98 m/s | 549 kWh | $78 |
| April | 3.94 m/s | 515 kWh | $73 |
| May | 3.26 m/s | 291 kWh | $41 |
| June | 2.91 m/s | 192 kWh | $27 |
| July | 2.64 m/s | 141 kWh | $20 |
| August | 2.63 m/s | 139 kWh | $20 |
| September | 2.89 m/s | 187 kWh | $27 |
| October | 3.34 m/s | 317 kWh | $45 |
| November | 3.58 m/s | 383 kWh | $54 |
| December | 3.73 m/s | 450 kWh | $64 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Mason County averages 2.06 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.32 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.460, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 2,136 to 8,289 kWh a year, 288% 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 | 2.83 m/s | 2,136 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.42 m/s | 4,000 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 3.9 m/s | 6,078 kWh | over 100 years |
| 50 m | 4.32 m/s | 8,289 kWh | 85 years |
Counties around Mason County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Brown County, averages 4.58 m/s.
- Robertson County, KY: 3.67 m/s, 5,034 kWh, payback over 100 years (14 mi)
- Bracken County, KY: 3.67 m/s, 5,034 kWh, payback over 100 years (17 mi)
- Fleming County, KY: 3.42 m/s, 4,018 kWh, payback over 100 years (17 mi)
- Nicholas County, KY: 3.42 m/s, 4,018 kWh, payback over 100 years (21 mi)
- Brown County, OH: 4.58 m/s, 9,824 kWh, payback 54 years (23 mi)
- Lewis County, KY: 3.24 m/s, 3,367 kWh, payback over 100 years (25 mi)
Sun versus wind in Mason County
Mason County gets 4.02 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,174 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 402. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 2.9 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.