Wind Turbine Payback in Rensselaer County, NY
Wind turbine payback in Rensselaer 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 Rensselaer County, NY averages 3.57 m/s (8 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 4,612 kWh a year, worth $1,349 at NY's 29.26¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 74 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Rensselaer County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Rensselaer County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 5.6 m/s at the hub against 3.57 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,092 kWh a year here against the turbine's 461, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 108¢/kWh, 3.7 times what NY pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 5.6 m/s instead of 3.57. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of NY
Rensselaer County is the 2,441st windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in NY is Niagara County at 6.87 m/s, payback 13 years.
Month by month in Rensselaer County
March is the strongest month here, at 4.33 m/s and about 709 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.78 m/s and 170 kWh, so the best month makes 4.2 times the worst. November to March brings in 61% of the year's output in Rensselaer County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.29 m/s | 690 kWh | $202 |
| February | 4.48 m/s | 705 kWh | $206 |
| March | 4.33 m/s | 709 kWh | $207 |
| April | 3.97 m/s | 528 kWh | $154 |
| May | 3.32 m/s | 310 kWh | $91 |
| June | 2.94 m/s | 200 kWh | $59 |
| July | 2.78 m/s | 170 kWh | $50 |
| August | 2.78 m/s | 170 kWh | $50 |
| September | 2.99 m/s | 212 kWh | $62 |
| October | 3.40 m/s | 335 kWh | $98 |
| November | 3.66 m/s | 409 kWh | $120 |
| December | 3.98 m/s | 549 kWh | $161 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Rensselaer County averages 2.22 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.45 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.432, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 2,587 to 9,041 kWh a year, 249% 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 m/s | 2,587 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.57 m/s | 4,607 kWh | 74 years |
| 40 m | 4.04 m/s | 6,785 kWh | 50 years |
| 50 m | 4.45 m/s | 9,041 kWh | 38 years |
Counties around Rensselaer County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Berkshire County, averages 3.61 m/s.
- Albany County, NY: 3.57 m/s, 4,612 kWh, payback 74 years (25 mi)
- Berkshire County, MA: 3.61 m/s, 4,778 kWh, payback 69 years (28 mi)
- Schenectady County, NY: 3.31 m/s, 3,612 kWh, payback 95 years (28 mi)
- Bennington County, VT: 3.5 m/s, 4,329 kWh, payback 97 years (30 mi)
- Saratoga County, NY: 3.31 m/s, 3,612 kWh, payback 95 years (32 mi)
- Columbia County, NY: 3.37 m/s, 3,830 kWh, payback 89 years (32 mi)
Sun versus wind in Rensselaer County
Rensselaer County gets 3.74 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,092 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 461. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 2.4 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.