Wind Turbine Payback in Pacific County, WA
Wind turbine payback in Pacific 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 Pacific County, WA averages 3.57 m/s (8 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 4,612 kWh a year, worth $665 at WA's 14.42¢/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 Pacific County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Pacific County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.1 m/s at the hub against 3.57 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,013 kWh a year here against the turbine's 461, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 108¢/kWh, 7.5 times what WA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.1 m/s instead of 3.57. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of WA
Pacific County is the 2,441st windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in WA is Columbia County at 5.18 m/s, payback 50 years.
Month by month in Pacific County
December is the strongest month here, at 4.25 m/s and about 671 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.96 m/s and 210 kWh, so the best month makes 3.2 times the worst. November to March brings in 59% of the year's output in Pacific County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.24 m/s | 667 kWh | $96 |
| February | 3.82 m/s | 436 kWh | $63 |
| March | 3.81 m/s | 480 kWh | $69 |
| April | 3.49 m/s | 353 kWh | $51 |
| May | 3.12 m/s | 253 kWh | $36 |
| June | 3.12 m/s | 245 kWh | $35 |
| July | 3.04 m/s | 231 kWh | $33 |
| August | 2.96 m/s | 210 kWh | $30 |
| September | 3.17 m/s | 258 kWh | $37 |
| October | 3.63 m/s | 414 kWh | $60 |
| November | 4.18 m/s | 619 kWh | $89 |
| December | 4.25 m/s | 671 kWh | $97 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Pacific County averages 2.42 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.27 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.353, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 2,875 to 8,008 kWh a year, 179% 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 | 3.09 m/s | 2,875 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.57 m/s | 4,593 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 3.95 m/s | 6,312 kWh | over 100 years |
| 50 m | 4.27 m/s | 8,008 kWh | 87 years |
Counties around Pacific County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Clatsop County, averages 3.95 m/s.
- Wahkiakum County, WA: 2.89 m/s, 2,287 kWh, payback over 100 years (25 mi)
- Clatsop County, OR: 3.95 m/s, 6,329 kWh, payback over 100 years (37 mi)
- Grays Harbor County, WA: 3.45 m/s, 4,133 kWh, payback over 100 years (39 mi)
- Thurston County, WA: 2.81 m/s, 2,073 kWh, payback over 100 years (52 mi)
- Columbia County, OR: 3 m/s, 2,601 kWh, payback over 100 years (54 mi)
- Cowlitz County, WA: 2.96 m/s, 2,484 kWh, payback over 100 years (58 mi)
Sun versus wind in Pacific County
Pacific County gets 3.47 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,013 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 461. 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.