Wind Turbine Payback in Onondaga County, NY
Wind turbine payback in Onondaga 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 Onondaga County, NY averages 3.95 m/s (8.8 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 6,329 kWh a year, worth $1,852 at NY's 29.26¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 54 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Onondaga County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Onondaga County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 5.6 m/s at the hub against 3.95 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,048 kWh a year here against the turbine's 633, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 79¢/kWh, 2.7 times what NY pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 5.6 m/s instead of 3.95. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of NY
Onondaga County is the 2,089th 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 Onondaga County
January is the strongest month here, at 4.92 m/s and about 1,022 kWh. August is the weakest, 3.08 m/s and 242 kWh, so the best month makes 4.2 times the worst. November to March brings in 63% of the year's output in Onondaga County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.92 m/s | 1,022 kWh | $299 |
| February | 5.03 m/s | 978 kWh | $286 |
| March | 4.64 m/s | 868 kWh | $254 |
| April | 4.22 m/s | 634 kWh | $186 |
| May | 3.53 m/s | 379 kWh | $111 |
| June | 3.24 m/s | 276 kWh | $81 |
| July | 3.12 m/s | 253 kWh | $74 |
| August | 3.08 m/s | 242 kWh | $71 |
| September | 3.29 m/s | 292 kWh | $85 |
| October | 3.73 m/s | 450 kWh | $132 |
| November | 4.11 m/s | 587 kWh | $172 |
| December | 4.45 m/s | 767 kWh | $224 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Onondaga County averages 2.6 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.79 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.380, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 3,873 to 11,147 kWh a year, 188% 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 | 3.38 m/s | 3,873 kWh | 88 years |
| 30 m | 3.94 m/s | 6,304 kWh | 54 years |
| 40 m | 4.4 m/s | 8,752 kWh | 39 years |
| 50 m | 4.79 m/s | 11,147 kWh | 31 years |
Counties around Onondaga County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Oswego County, averages 4.74 m/s.
- Cayuga County, NY: 4.06 m/s, 6,883 kWh, payback 50 years (19 mi)
- Madison County, NY: 3.88 m/s, 5,989 kWh, payback 57 years (28 mi)
- Cortland County, NY: 3.88 m/s, 5,989 kWh, payback 57 years (29 mi)
- Oswego County, NY: 4.74 m/s, 10,826 kWh, payback 32 years (31 mi)
- Seneca County, NY: 4.06 m/s, 6,883 kWh, payback 50 years (35 mi)
- Tompkins County, NY: 3.88 m/s, 5,989 kWh, payback 57 years (41 mi)
Sun versus wind in Onondaga County
Onondaga County gets 3.59 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,048 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 633. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.7 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.