Wind Turbine Payback in Pocahontas County, WV
Wind turbine payback in Pocahontas 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 Pocahontas County, WV averages 3.65 m/s (8.2 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 4,948 kWh a year, worth $771 at WV's 15.58¢/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 Pocahontas County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Pocahontas County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.7 m/s at the hub against 3.65 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,136 kWh a year here against the turbine's 495, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 101¢/kWh, 6.5 times what WV pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.7 m/s instead of 3.65. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of WV
Pocahontas County is the 2,332nd windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in WV is Preston County at 3.73 m/s, payback over 100 years.
Month by month in Pocahontas County
January is the strongest month here, at 4.65 m/s and about 871 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.51 m/s and 117 kWh, so the best month makes 7.4 times the worst. November to March brings in 65% of the year's output in Pocahontas County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.65 m/s | 871 kWh | $136 |
| February | 4.74 m/s | 830 kWh | $129 |
| March | 4.44 m/s | 762 kWh | $119 |
| April | 4.23 m/s | 639 kWh | $100 |
| May | 3.37 m/s | 326 kWh | $51 |
| June | 2.97 m/s | 206 kWh | $32 |
| July | 2.63 m/s | 138 kWh | $22 |
| August | 2.51 m/s | 117 kWh | $18 |
| September | 2.83 m/s | 175 kWh | $27 |
| October | 3.44 m/s | 347 kWh | $54 |
| November | 3.81 m/s | 465 kWh | $72 |
| December | 4.24 m/s | 665 kWh | $104 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Pocahontas County averages 2.31 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.51 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.416, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 2,846 to 9,399 kWh a year, 230% 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 | 3.08 m/s | 2,846 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.65 m/s | 4,933 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 4.11 m/s | 7,144 kWh | 90 years |
| 50 m | 4.51 m/s | 9,399 kWh | 68 years |
Counties around Pocahontas County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Highland County, averages 3.69 m/s.
- Bath County, VA: 3.37 m/s, 3,830 kWh, payback over 100 years (24 mi)
- Highland County, VA: 3.69 m/s, 5,121 kWh, payback over 100 years (24 mi)
- Webster County, WV: 3.56 m/s, 4,570 kWh, payback over 100 years (26 mi)
- Randolph County, WV: 3.61 m/s, 4,778 kWh, payback over 100 years (32 mi)
- Greenbrier County, WV: 3.57 m/s, 4,612 kWh, payback over 100 years (37 mi)
- Alleghany County, VA: 3.37 m/s, 3,830 kWh, payback over 100 years (38 mi)
Sun versus wind in Pocahontas County
Pocahontas County gets 3.89 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,136 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 495. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 2.3 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.