Wind Turbine Payback in Putnam County, WV
Wind turbine payback in Putnam 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 Putnam County, WV averages 3.15 m/s (7 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 3,067 kWh a year, worth $478 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 Putnam County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Putnam County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.7 m/s at the hub against 3.15 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,150 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, 10.5 times what WV pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.7 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 WV
Putnam 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 WV is Preston County at 3.73 m/s, payback over 100 years.
Month by month in Putnam County
January is the strongest month here, at 3.75 m/s and about 457 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.38 m/s and 95 kWh, so the best month makes 4.8 times the worst. November to March brings in 60% of the year's output in Putnam County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.75 m/s | 457 kWh | $71 |
| February | 3.83 m/s | 443 kWh | $69 |
| March | 3.71 m/s | 442 kWh | $69 |
| April | 3.65 m/s | 408 kWh | $64 |
| May | 2.99 m/s | 218 kWh | $34 |
| June | 2.69 m/s | 146 kWh | $23 |
| July | 2.45 m/s | 105 kWh | $16 |
| August | 2.38 m/s | 95 kWh | $15 |
| September | 2.61 m/s | 131 kWh | $20 |
| October | 3.05 m/s | 232 kWh | $36 |
| November | 3.27 m/s | 287 kWh | $45 |
| December | 3.46 m/s | 353 kWh | $55 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Putnam 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 | 98 years |
Counties around Putnam County
5 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Gallia County, averages 3.3 m/s.
- Mason County, WV: 3.19 m/s, 3,198 kWh, payback over 100 years (19 mi)
- Cabell County, WV: 3.14 m/s, 3,034 kWh, payback over 100 years (19 mi)
- Kanawha County, WV: 3.28 m/s, 3,506 kWh, payback over 100 years (24 mi)
- Lincoln County, WV: 3.25 m/s, 3,402 kWh, payback over 100 years (25 mi)
- Jackson County, WV: 3.19 m/s, 3,198 kWh, payback over 100 years (26 mi)
- Gallia County, OH: 3.3 m/s, 3,577 kWh, payback over 100 years (30 mi)
Sun versus wind in Putnam County
Putnam County gets 3.94 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,150 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 307. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 3.7 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.