Wind Turbine Payback in Mercer County, WV
Wind turbine payback in Mercer 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 Mercer County, WV averages 3.53 m/s (7.9 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 4,449 kWh a year, worth $693 at WV's 15.58¢/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 Mercer County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Mercer County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.7 m/s at the hub against 3.53 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,183 kWh a year here against the turbine's 445, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 112¢/kWh, 7.2 times what WV pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.7 m/s instead of 3.53. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of WV
Mercer County is the 2,484th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in WV is Preston County at 3.73 m/s, payback over 100 years.
Month by month in Mercer County
January is the strongest month here, at 4.39 m/s and about 738 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.50 m/s and 115 kWh, so the best month makes 6.4 times the worst. November to March brings in 64% of the year's output in Mercer County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.39 m/s | 738 kWh | $115 |
| February | 4.49 m/s | 713 kWh | $111 |
| March | 4.29 m/s | 691 kWh | $108 |
| April | 4.09 m/s | 579 kWh | $90 |
| May | 3.31 m/s | 306 kWh | $48 |
| June | 2.86 m/s | 182 kWh | $28 |
| July | 2.62 m/s | 136 kWh | $21 |
| August | 2.50 m/s | 115 kWh | $18 |
| September | 2.81 m/s | 170 kWh | $26 |
| October | 3.33 m/s | 313 kWh | $49 |
| November | 3.68 m/s | 418 kWh | $65 |
| December | 4.04 m/s | 578 kWh | $90 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Mercer County averages 2.2 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.4 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.431, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 2,497 to 8,748 kWh a year, 250% 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 | 2.96 m/s | 2,497 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.53 m/s | 4,451 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 4 m/s | 6,560 kWh | 98 years |
| 50 m | 4.4 m/s | 8,748 kWh | 73 years |
Counties around Mercer County
None of the 6 closest counties is windier than Mercer County.
- Bland County, VA: 3.5 m/s, 4,329 kWh, payback over 100 years (19 mi)
- Summers County, WV: 3.34 m/s, 3,720 kWh, payback over 100 years (22 mi)
- Giles County, VA: 3.34 m/s, 3,720 kWh, payback over 100 years (23 mi)
- Raleigh County, WV: 3.4 m/s, 3,942 kWh, payback over 100 years (26 mi)
- Wyoming County, WV: 3.53 m/s, 4,449 kWh, payback over 100 years (28 mi)
- McDowell County, WV: 3.3 m/s, 3,577 kWh, payback over 100 years (30 mi)
Sun versus wind in Mercer County
Mercer County gets 4.05 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,183 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 445. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 2.7 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.