Wind Turbine Payback in Pulaski County, KY
Wind turbine payback in Pulaski 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 Pulaski County, KY averages 3.33 m/s (7.4 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 3,684 kWh a year, worth $523 at KY's 14.2¢/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 Pulaski County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Pulaski County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.2 m/s at the hub against 3.33 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,206 kWh a year here against the turbine's 368, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 136¢/kWh, 9.6 times what KY pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.2 m/s instead of 3.33. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of KY
Pulaski County is the 2,705th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in KY is Fulton County at 5.54 m/s, payback 43 years.
Month by month in Pulaski County
March is the strongest month here, at 3.94 m/s and about 533 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.52 m/s and 118 kWh, so the best month makes 4.5 times the worst. November to March brings in 58% of the year's output in Pulaski County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.87 m/s | 504 kWh | $72 |
| February | 3.98 m/s | 497 kWh | $71 |
| March | 3.94 m/s | 533 kWh | $76 |
| April | 3.88 m/s | 494 kWh | $70 |
| May | 3.21 m/s | 276 kWh | $39 |
| June | 2.82 m/s | 171 kWh | $24 |
| July | 2.58 m/s | 130 kWh | $18 |
| August | 2.52 m/s | 118 kWh | $17 |
| September | 2.80 m/s | 168 kWh | $24 |
| October | 3.27 m/s | 295 kWh | $42 |
| November | 3.49 m/s | 353 kWh | $50 |
| December | 3.66 m/s | 424 kWh | $60 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Pulaski County averages 2.05 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.18 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.443, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 2,009 to 7,515 kWh a year, 274% 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 | 2.79 m/s | 2,009 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.33 m/s | 3,697 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 3.79 m/s | 5,553 kWh | over 100 years |
| 50 m | 4.18 m/s | 7,515 kWh | 94 years |
Counties around Pulaski County
4 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Rockcastle County, averages 4.1 m/s.
- Rockcastle County, KY: 4.1 m/s, 7,090 kWh, payback 99 years (23 mi)
- Casey County, KY: 4.07 m/s, 6,934 kWh, payback over 100 years (24 mi)
- Lincoln County, KY: 4.1 m/s, 7,090 kWh, payback 99 years (25 mi)
- Laurel County, KY: 3.33 m/s, 3,684 kWh, payback over 100 years (25 mi)
- Wayne County, KY: 4 m/s, 6,577 kWh, payback over 100 years (25 mi)
- McCreary County, KY: 3.11 m/s, 2,938 kWh, payback over 100 years (26 mi)
Sun versus wind in Pulaski County
Pulaski County gets 4.13 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,206 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 368. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 3.3 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.