Wind Turbine Payback in Ross County, OH
Wind turbine payback in Ross 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 Ross County, OH averages 4.88 m/s (10.9 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 11,734 kWh a year, worth $2,207 at OH's 18.81¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 45 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Ross County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Ross County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 6.9 m/s at the hub against 4.88 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,165 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,173, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 43¢/kWh, 2.3 times what OH pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 6.9 m/s instead of 4.88. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of OH
Ross County is the 1,517th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in OH is Lake County at 6.53 m/s, payback 23 years.
Month by month in Ross County
January is the strongest month here, at 5.76 m/s and about 1,526 kWh. August is the weakest, 3.63 m/s and 411 kWh, so the best month makes 3.7 times the worst. November to March brings in 56% of the year's output in Ross County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.76 m/s | 1,526 kWh | $287 |
| February | 5.71 m/s | 1,349 kWh | $254 |
| March | 5.64 m/s | 1,450 kWh | $273 |
| April | 5.69 m/s | 1,434 kWh | $270 |
| May | 4.69 m/s | 895 kWh | $168 |
| June | 4.21 m/s | 630 kWh | $119 |
| July | 3.65 m/s | 421 kWh | $79 |
| August | 3.63 m/s | 411 kWh | $77 |
| September | 4.02 m/s | 547 kWh | $103 |
| October | 4.89 m/s | 1,005 kWh | $189 |
| November | 5.29 m/s | 1,192 kWh | $224 |
| December | 5.42 m/s | 1,316 kWh | $248 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Ross County averages 3.61 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.61 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.274, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 8,543 to 16,834 kWh a year, 97% 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 | 4.36 m/s | 8,543 kWh | 62 years |
| 30 m | 4.88 m/s | 11,716 kWh | 45 years |
| 40 m | 5.28 m/s | 14,448 kWh | 37 years |
| 50 m | 5.61 m/s | 16,834 kWh | 32 years |
Counties around Ross County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Fayette County, averages 5.48 m/s.
- Pike County, OH: 3.73 m/s, 5,297 kWh, payback over 100 years (17 mi)
- Pickaway County, OH: 4.88 m/s, 11,734 kWh, payback 45 years (22 mi)
- Fayette County, OH: 5.48 m/s, 15,893 kWh, payback 34 years (27 mi)
- Highland County, OH: 4.58 m/s, 9,824 kWh, payback 54 years (31 mi)
- Vinton County, OH: 3.94 m/s, 6,280 kWh, payback 85 years (31 mi)
- Jackson County, OH: 3.3 m/s, 3,577 kWh, payback over 100 years (32 mi)
Sun versus wind in Ross County
Ross County gets 3.99 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,165 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,173. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.0 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.