Wind Turbine Payback in Plymouth County, MA
Wind turbine payback in Plymouth 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 Plymouth County, MA averages 5.51 m/s (12.3 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 16,109 kWh a year, worth $4,863 at MA's 30.19¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 21 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Plymouth County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Plymouth County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 5.6 m/s at the hub against 5.51 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,142 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,611, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 31¢/kWh, 1.0 times what MA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 5.6 m/s instead of 5.51. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of MA
Plymouth County is the 1,215th 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 Plymouth County
January is the strongest month here, at 6.43 m/s and about 1,947 kWh. August is the weakest, 4.41 m/s and 750 kWh, so the best month makes 2.6 times the worst. November to March brings in 55% of the year's output in Plymouth County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.43 m/s | 1,947 kWh | $588 |
| February | 6.46 m/s | 1,774 kWh | $536 |
| March | 6.36 m/s | 1,902 kWh | $574 |
| April | 5.73 m/s | 1,455 kWh | $439 |
| May | 5.03 m/s | 1,083 kWh | $327 |
| June | 4.66 m/s | 846 kWh | $255 |
| July | 4.47 m/s | 777 kWh | $235 |
| August | 4.41 m/s | 750 kWh | $226 |
| September | 4.84 m/s | 945 kWh | $285 |
| October | 5.59 m/s | 1,415 kWh | $427 |
| November | 5.93 m/s | 1,579 kWh | $477 |
| December | 6.26 m/s | 1,835 kWh | $554 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Plymouth County averages 4.33 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.17 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.220, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 12,830 to 20,965 kWh a year, 63% 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 | 5.04 m/s | 12,830 kWh | 26 years |
| 30 m | 5.51 m/s | 16,139 kWh | 21 years |
| 40 m | 5.87 m/s | 18,775 kWh | 18 years |
| 50 m | 6.17 m/s | 20,965 kWh | 16 years |
Counties around Plymouth County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Barnstable County, averages 8.21 m/s.
- Bristol County, MA: 5.04 m/s, 12,805 kWh, payback 26 years (24 mi)
- Norfolk County, MA: 3.88 m/s, 5,989 kWh, payback 55 years (26 mi)
- Suffolk County, MA: 3.87 m/s, 5,942 kWh, payback 56 years (28 mi)
- Bristol County, RI: 5.04 m/s, 12,805 kWh, payback 27 years (34 mi)
- Barnstable County, MA: 8.21 m/s, 35,148 kWh, payback 9 years (35 mi)
- Dukes County, MA: 7.41 m/s, 29,920 kWh, payback 11 years (42 mi)
Sun versus wind in Plymouth County
Plymouth 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 1,611. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.4 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.