Wind Turbine Payback in Pittsylvania County, VA
Wind turbine payback in Pittsylvania 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 Pittsylvania County, VA averages 3.15 m/s (7 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 3,067 kWh a year, worth $520 at VA's 16.95¢/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 Pittsylvania County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Pittsylvania County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.3 m/s at the hub against 3.15 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,267 kWh a year here against the turbine's 307, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 163¢/kWh, 9.6 times what VA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.3 m/s instead of 3.15. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of VA
Pittsylvania County is the 2,941st windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in VA is Northampton County at 7.01 m/s, payback 22 years.
Month by month in Pittsylvania County
March is the strongest month here, at 3.72 m/s and about 448 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.41 m/s and 99 kWh, so the best month makes 4.5 times the worst. November to March brings in 58% of the year's output in Pittsylvania County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.65 m/s | 421 kWh | $71 |
| February | 3.76 m/s | 418 kWh | $71 |
| March | 3.72 m/s | 448 kWh | $76 |
| April | 3.65 m/s | 405 kWh | $69 |
| May | 3.03 m/s | 228 kWh | $39 |
| June | 2.71 m/s | 149 kWh | $25 |
| July | 2.48 m/s | 111 kWh | $19 |
| August | 2.41 m/s | 99 kWh | $17 |
| September | 2.71 m/s | 149 kWh | $25 |
| October | 3.07 m/s | 239 kWh | $41 |
| November | 3.28 m/s | 289 kWh | $49 |
| December | 3.38 m/s | 327 kWh | $55 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Pittsylvania County averages 1.89 m/s; at 50 m it is 3.99 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.464, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 1,583 to 6,527 kWh a year, 312% 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 | 2.61 m/s | 1,583 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.15 m/s | 3,060 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 3.6 m/s | 4,726 kWh | over 100 years |
| 50 m | 3.99 m/s | 6,527 kWh | 90 years |
Counties around Pittsylvania County
5 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Danville city, averages 3.86 m/s.
- Danville city, VA: 3.86 m/s, 5,894 kWh, payback over 100 years (16 mi)
- Halifax County, VA: 3.32 m/s, 3,648 kWh, payback over 100 years (26 mi)
- Martinsville city, VA: 3.73 m/s, 5,297 kWh, payback over 100 years (27 mi)
- Franklin County, VA: 3.3 m/s, 3,577 kWh, payback over 100 years (29 mi)
- Caswell County, NC: 3.86 m/s, 5,894 kWh, payback over 100 years (30 mi)
- Campbell County, VA: 3.15 m/s, 3,067 kWh, payback over 100 years (32 mi)
Sun versus wind in Pittsylvania County
Pittsylvania County gets 4.34 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,267 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 307. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 4.1 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.