Wind Turbine Payback in Monroe County, NY
Wind turbine payback in Monroe County
Only just. The money comes back late in the turbine's life.
At 30 m, the height a home turbine tower usually reaches, the wind in Monroe County, NY averages 6.61 m/s (14.8 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 24,216 kWh a year, worth $7,086 at NY's 29.26¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 14 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Monroe County
It is close enough that your own site decides it. If you have open land with no trees or buildings upwind, ask an installer to log the wind at 30 m or higher; anything above 5.6 m/s pays back in time. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,040 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,422, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power already costs enough here: break-even is 21¢/kWh and NY pays 29.26¢.
- The wind clears the break-even speed of 5.6 m/s at today's price.
Against the rest of NY
Monroe County is the 107th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in NY is Niagara County at 6.87 m/s, payback 13 years.
Month by month in Monroe County
January is the strongest month here, at 8.27 m/s and about 3,017 kWh. August is the weakest, 4.95 m/s and 1,034 kWh, so the best month makes 2.9 times the worst. November to March brings in 56% of the year's output in Monroe County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8.27 m/s | 3,017 kWh | $883 |
| February | 8.12 m/s | 2,655 kWh | $777 |
| March | 7.24 m/s | 2,439 kWh | $714 |
| April | 6.92 m/s | 2,176 kWh | $637 |
| May | 5.73 m/s | 1,503 kWh | $440 |
| June | 5.28 m/s | 1,190 kWh | $348 |
| July | 5.04 m/s | 1,087 kWh | $318 |
| August | 4.95 m/s | 1,034 kWh | $303 |
| September | 5.41 m/s | 1,266 kWh | $370 |
| October | 6.90 m/s | 2,237 kWh | $655 |
| November | 7.45 m/s | 2,483 kWh | $727 |
| December | 8.09 m/s | 2,919 kWh | $854 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Monroe County averages 5.68 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.1 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.139, typical of very open, smooth ground where height adds little. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 21,565 to 27,755 kWh a year, 29% more, before counting the extra cost of the taller tower.
| Hub height | Average wind | Output | Payback |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 m | 6.25 m/s | 21,565 kWh | 16 years |
| 30 m | 6.61 m/s | 24,240 kWh | 14 years |
| 40 m | 6.88 m/s | 26,204 kWh | 13 years |
| 50 m | 7.1 m/s | 27,755 kWh | 12 years |
Counties around Monroe County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Orleans County, averages 6.86 m/s.
- Orleans County, NY: 6.86 m/s, 26,036 kWh, payback 13 years (26 mi)
- Genesee County, NY: 4.08 m/s, 6,986 kWh, payback 49 years (30 mi)
- Wayne County, NY: 4.06 m/s, 6,883 kWh, payback 50 years (33 mi)
- Ontario County, NY: 4.16 m/s, 7,408 kWh, payback 46 years (34 mi)
- Livingston County, NY: 3.94 m/s, 6,280 kWh, payback 54 years (36 mi)
- Wyoming County, NY: 4.03 m/s, 6,729 kWh, payback 51 years (46 mi)
Sun versus wind in Monroe County
Monroe County gets 3.56 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,040 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,422. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 2.3 times. Panel output assumes an 80% system performance ratio.
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.