Wind Turbine Payback in Nantucket County, MA
Wind turbine payback in Nantucket County
Yes. A small turbine pays for itself here.
At 30 m, the height a home turbine tower usually reaches, the wind in Nantucket County, MA averages 8.21 m/s (18.4 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 35,148 kWh a year, worth $10,611 at MA's 30.19¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 9 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Nantucket County
The numbers work, so the next step is proof. Before you buy, get a site assessment that logs wind at your actual tower spot for a few months, and check your county's zoning for tower height limits. If the logger reads below 5.6 m/s, walk away.
What would have to change
- Power already costs enough here: break-even is 14¢/kWh and MA pays 30.19¢.
- The wind clears the break-even speed of 5.6 m/s at today's price.
Against the rest of MA
Nantucket County is the 2nd windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in MA is Barnstable County at 8.21 m/s, payback 9 years.
Month by month in Nantucket County
January is the strongest month here, at 9.27 m/s and about 3,489 kWh. August is the weakest, 6.70 m/s and 2,115 kWh, so the best month makes 1.6 times the worst. November to March brings in 48% of the year's output in Nantucket County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9.27 m/s | 3,489 kWh | $1,053 |
| February | 9.14 m/s | 3,100 kWh | $936 |
| March | 9.05 m/s | 3,395 kWh | $1,025 |
| April | 8.41 m/s | 2,987 kWh | $902 |
| May | 7.79 m/s | 2,758 kWh | $833 |
| June | 7.41 m/s | 2,457 kWh | $742 |
| July | 7.11 m/s | 2,361 kWh | $713 |
| August | 6.70 m/s | 2,115 kWh | $639 |
| September | 7.21 m/s | 2,344 kWh | $708 |
| October | 8.38 m/s | 3,073 kWh | $928 |
| November | 8.86 m/s | 3,199 kWh | $966 |
| December | 9.26 m/s | 3,485 kWh | $1,052 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Nantucket County averages 7.13 m/s; at 50 m it is 8.77 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.129, typical of very open, smooth ground where height adds little. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 32,489 to 38,439 kWh a year, 18% more, before counting the extra cost of the taller tower.
| Hub height | Average wind | Output | Payback |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 m | 7.79 m/s | 32,489 kWh | 10 years |
| 30 m | 8.21 m/s | 35,152 kWh | 9 years |
| 40 m | 8.52 m/s | 37,017 kWh | 9 years |
| 50 m | 8.77 m/s | 38,439 kWh | 9 years |
Counties around Nantucket County
None of the 6 closest counties is windier than Nantucket County.
- Barnstable County, MA: 8.21 m/s, 35,148 kWh, payback 9 years (29 mi)
- Dukes County, MA: 7.41 m/s, 29,920 kWh, payback 11 years (32 mi)
- Plymouth County, MA: 5.51 m/s, 16,109 kWh, payback 21 years (58 mi)
- Bristol County, MA: 5.04 m/s, 12,805 kWh, payback 26 years (60 mi)
- Newport County, RI: 5.04 m/s, 12,805 kWh, payback 27 years (63 mi)
- Bristol County, RI: 5.04 m/s, 12,805 kWh, payback 27 years (68 mi)
Sun versus wind in Nantucket County
Nantucket County gets 3.91 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,142 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 3,515. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 3.1 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.