Wind Turbine Payback in Morgan County, AL
Wind turbine payback in Morgan 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 Morgan County, AL averages 3.84 m/s (8.6 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 5,800 kWh a year, worth $958 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 Morgan County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Morgan County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.5 m/s at the hub against 3.84 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,294 kWh a year here against the turbine's 580, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 86¢/kWh, 5.2 times what AL pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.5 m/s instead of 3.84. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of AL
Morgan County is the 2,186th 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 Morgan County
March is the strongest month here, at 4.56 m/s and about 822 kWh. July is the weakest, 2.77 m/s and 168 kWh, so the best month makes 4.9 times the worst. November to March brings in 58% of the year's output in Morgan County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.43 m/s | 758 kWh | $125 |
| February | 4.59 m/s | 758 kWh | $125 |
| March | 4.56 m/s | 822 kWh | $136 |
| April | 4.51 m/s | 771 kWh | $127 |
| May | 3.71 m/s | 443 kWh | $73 |
| June | 3.11 m/s | 241 kWh | $40 |
| July | 2.77 m/s | 168 kWh | $28 |
| August | 2.87 m/s | 190 kWh | $31 |
| September | 3.38 m/s | 316 kWh | $52 |
| October | 3.81 m/s | 481 kWh | $79 |
| November | 4.15 m/s | 603 kWh | $100 |
| December | 4.25 m/s | 673 kWh | $111 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Morgan County averages 2.62 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.58 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.347, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 3,694 to 9,824 kWh a year, 166% 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 | 3.33 m/s | 3,694 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.84 m/s | 5,782 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 4.24 m/s | 7,835 kWh | 77 years |
| 50 m | 4.58 m/s | 9,824 kWh | 62 years |
Counties around Morgan County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Limestone County, averages 3.99 m/s.
- Cullman County, AL: 3.23 m/s, 3,333 kWh, payback over 100 years (22 mi)
- Limestone County, AL: 3.99 m/s, 6,527 kWh, payback 93 years (26 mi)
- Madison County, AL: 3.8 m/s, 5,614 kWh, payback over 100 years (27 mi)
- Lawrence County, AL: 3.87 m/s, 5,942 kWh, payback over 100 years (28 mi)
- Marshall County, AL: 3.58 m/s, 4,653 kWh, payback over 100 years (32 mi)
- Winston County, AL: 3.15 m/s, 3,067 kWh, payback over 100 years (36 mi)
Sun versus wind in Morgan County
Morgan County gets 4.43 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,294 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 580. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 2.2 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.