Wind Turbine Payback in Scioto County, OH
Wind turbine payback in Scioto 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 Scioto County, OH averages 3.73 m/s (8.3 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 5,297 kWh a year, worth $996 at OH's 18.81¢/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 Scioto County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Scioto County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 6.9 m/s at the hub against 3.73 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,168 kWh a year here against the turbine's 530, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 94¢/kWh, 5.0 times what OH pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 6.9 m/s instead of 3.73. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of OH
Scioto County is the 2,261st 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 Scioto County
January is the strongest month here, at 4.43 m/s and about 759 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.80 m/s and 175 kWh, so the best month makes 4.3 times the worst. November to March brings in 59% of the year's output in Scioto County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.43 m/s | 759 kWh | $143 |
| February | 4.46 m/s | 696 kWh | $131 |
| March | 4.37 m/s | 731 kWh | $138 |
| April | 4.34 m/s | 692 kWh | $130 |
| May | 3.54 m/s | 381 kWh | $72 |
| June | 3.16 m/s | 256 kWh | $48 |
| July | 2.82 m/s | 178 kWh | $33 |
| August | 2.80 m/s | 175 kWh | $33 |
| September | 3.09 m/s | 237 kWh | $45 |
| October | 3.66 m/s | 425 kWh | $80 |
| November | 3.96 m/s | 523 kWh | $98 |
| December | 4.11 m/s | 608 kWh | $114 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Scioto County averages 2.42 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.56 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.394, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 3,159 to 9,702 kWh a year, 207% 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 | 3,159 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.73 m/s | 5,291 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 4.18 m/s | 7,495 kWh | 71 years |
| 50 m | 4.56 m/s | 9,702 kWh | 55 years |
Counties around Scioto County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Adams County, averages 4.58 m/s.
- Greenup County, KY: 3.24 m/s, 3,367 kWh, payback over 100 years (18 mi)
- Pike County, OH: 3.73 m/s, 5,297 kWh, payback over 100 years (18 mi)
- Jackson County, OH: 3.3 m/s, 3,577 kWh, payback over 100 years (25 mi)
- Adams County, OH: 4.58 m/s, 9,824 kWh, payback 54 years (26 mi)
- Lewis County, KY: 3.24 m/s, 3,367 kWh, payback over 100 years (28 mi)
- Lawrence County, OH: 3.14 m/s, 3,034 kWh, payback over 100 years (30 mi)
Sun versus wind in Scioto County
Scioto County gets 4 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,168 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 530. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 2.2 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.