Wind Turbine Payback in North Slope Borough, AK
Wind turbine payback in North Slope Borough
No. The turbine wears out before it pays for itself.
At 30 m, the height a home turbine tower usually reaches, the wind in North Slope Borough, AK averages 4.73 m/s (10.6 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 10,762 kWh a year, worth $2,940 at AK's 27.32¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 34 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in North Slope Borough
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in North Slope Borough unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 5.8 m/s at the hub against 4.73 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 710 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,076, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 46¢/kWh, 1.7 times what AK pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 5.8 m/s instead of 4.73. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of AK
North Slope Borough is the 1,596th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in AK is Aleutians West Census Area at 9.35 m/s, payback 9 years.
Month by month in North Slope Borough
February is the strongest month here, at 5.47 m/s and about 1,214 kWh. June is the weakest, 4.20 m/s and 628 kWh, so the best month makes 1.9 times the worst. November to March brings in 49% of the year's output in North Slope Borough.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.01 m/s | 1,072 kWh | $293 |
| February | 5.47 m/s | 1,214 kWh | $332 |
| March | 4.90 m/s | 1,010 kWh | $276 |
| April | 4.74 m/s | 891 kWh | $243 |
| May | 4.37 m/s | 731 kWh | $200 |
| June | 4.20 m/s | 628 kWh | $172 |
| July | 4.35 m/s | 717 kWh | $196 |
| August | 4.37 m/s | 726 kWh | $198 |
| September | 4.54 m/s | 786 kWh | $215 |
| October | 4.93 m/s | 1,026 kWh | $280 |
| November | 5.17 m/s | 1,123 kWh | $307 |
| December | 4.81 m/s | 960 kWh | $262 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in North Slope Borough averages 3.76 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.27 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.210, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 8,446 to 14,397 kWh a year, 70% 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 | 4.35 m/s | 8,446 kWh | 43 years |
| 30 m | 4.73 m/s | 10,787 kWh | 34 years |
| 40 m | 5.03 m/s | 12,729 kWh | 29 years |
| 50 m | 5.27 m/s | 14,397 kWh | 25 years |
Counties around North Slope Borough
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Nome Census Area, averages 5.74 m/s.
- Northwest Arctic Borough, AK: 5.52 m/s, 16,181 kWh, payback 23 years (238 mi)
- Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, AK: 5.2 m/s, 13,907 kWh, payback 26 years (286 mi)
- Fairbanks North Star Borough, AK: 3.23 m/s, 3,333 kWh, payback over 100 years (379 mi)
- Denali Borough, AK: 4.06 m/s, 6,883 kWh, payback 53 years (409 mi)
- Nome Census Area, AK: 5.74 m/s, 17,785 kWh, payback 21 years (431 mi)
- Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, AK: 2.93 m/s, 2,398 kWh, payback over 100 years (476 mi)
Sun versus wind in North Slope Borough
North Slope Borough gets 2.43 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 710 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,076. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.5 times. 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.