Wind Turbine Payback in Schoharie County, NY
Wind turbine payback in Schoharie 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 Schoharie County, NY averages 3.77 m/s (8.4 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 5,477 kWh a year, worth $1,603 at NY's 29.26¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 62 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Schoharie County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Schoharie County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 5.6 m/s at the hub against 3.77 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,086 kWh a year here against the turbine's 548, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 91¢/kWh, 3.1 times what NY pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 5.6 m/s instead of 3.77. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of NY
Schoharie County is the 2,225th 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 Schoharie County
January is the strongest month here, at 4.71 m/s and about 906 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.89 m/s and 194 kWh, so the best month makes 4.7 times the worst. November to March brings in 64% of the year's output in Schoharie County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.71 m/s | 906 kWh | $265 |
| February | 4.87 m/s | 894 kWh | $262 |
| March | 4.55 m/s | 816 kWh | $239 |
| April | 4.12 m/s | 590 kWh | $173 |
| May | 3.43 m/s | 345 kWh | $101 |
| June | 3.09 m/s | 237 kWh | $69 |
| July | 2.92 m/s | 202 kWh | $59 |
| August | 2.89 m/s | 194 kWh | $57 |
| September | 3.04 m/s | 223 kWh | $65 |
| October | 3.52 m/s | 374 kWh | $109 |
| November | 3.87 m/s | 487 kWh | $142 |
| December | 4.31 m/s | 700 kWh | $205 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Schoharie County averages 2.38 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.67 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.419, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 3,169 to 10,382 kWh a year, 228% 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 | 3.18 m/s | 3,169 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.77 m/s | 5,478 kWh | 62 years |
| 40 m | 4.25 m/s | 7,915 kWh | 43 years |
| 50 m | 4.67 m/s | 10,382 kWh | 33 years |
Counties around Schoharie County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Otsego County, averages 3.86 m/s.
- Montgomery County, NY: 3.61 m/s, 4,778 kWh, payback 72 years (21 mi)
- Albany County, NY: 3.57 m/s, 4,612 kWh, payback 74 years (24 mi)
- Schenectady County, NY: 3.31 m/s, 3,612 kWh, payback 95 years (25 mi)
- Greene County, NY: 3.77 m/s, 5,477 kWh, payback 62 years (26 mi)
- Otsego County, NY: 3.86 m/s, 5,894 kWh, payback 58 years (30 mi)
- Fulton County, NY: 3.61 m/s, 4,778 kWh, payback 72 years (36 mi)
Sun versus wind in Schoharie County
Schoharie County gets 3.72 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,086 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 548. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 2.0 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.