Wind Turbine Payback in Skagway Municipality, AK
Wind turbine payback in Skagway Municipality
No. The turbine wears out before it pays for itself.
At 30 m, the height a home turbine tower usually reaches, the wind in Skagway Municipality, AK averages 2.81 m/s (6.3 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 2,073 kWh a year, worth $566 at AK's 27.32¢/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 Skagway Municipality
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Skagway Municipality unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 5.8 m/s at the hub against 2.81 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 736 kWh a year here against the turbine's 207, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 241¢/kWh, 8.8 times what AK pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 5.8 m/s instead of 2.81. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of AK
Skagway Municipality is the 3,122nd windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in AK is Aleutians West Census Area at 9.35 m/s, payback 9 years.
Month by month in Skagway Municipality
January is the strongest month here, at 3.43 m/s and about 343 kWh. May is the weakest, 2.09 m/s and 55 kWh, so the best month makes 6.2 times the worst. November to March brings in 65% of the year's output in Skagway Municipality.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.43 m/s | 343 kWh | $94 |
| February | 3.09 m/s | 220 kWh | $60 |
| March | 3.37 m/s | 325 kWh | $89 |
| April | 2.58 m/s | 125 kWh | $34 |
| May | 2.09 m/s | 55 kWh | $15 |
| June | 2.15 m/s | 61 kWh | $17 |
| July | 2.31 m/s | 85 kWh | $23 |
| August | 2.47 m/s | 109 kWh | $30 |
| September | 2.80 m/s | 169 kWh | $46 |
| October | 2.95 m/s | 210 kWh | $57 |
| November | 3.31 m/s | 298 kWh | $81 |
| December | 3.28 m/s | 299 kWh | $82 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Skagway Municipality averages 2.47 m/s; at 50 m it is 2.99 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.119, typical of very open, smooth ground where height adds little. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 1,752 to 2,571 kWh a year, 47% 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 | 2.68 m/s | 1,752 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 2.81 m/s | 2,082 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 2.91 m/s | 2,347 kWh | over 100 years |
| 50 m | 2.99 m/s | 2,571 kWh | over 100 years |
Counties around Skagway Municipality
6 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Sitka City and Borough, averages 6.4 m/s.
- Haines Borough, AK: 3.76 m/s, 5,432 kWh, payback 67 years (33 mi)
- Hoonah-Angoon Census Area, AK: 4.48 m/s, 9,219 kWh, payback 40 years (82 mi)
- Juneau City and Borough, AK: 3.89 m/s, 6,037 kWh, payback 61 years (92 mi)
- Sitka City and Borough, AK: 6.4 m/s, 22,669 kWh, payback 16 years (164 mi)
- Yakutat City and Borough, AK: 3.62 m/s, 4,820 kWh, payback 76 years (179 mi)
- Petersburg Borough, AK: 3.97 m/s, 6,428 kWh, payback 57 years (189 mi)
Sun versus wind in Skagway Municipality
Skagway Municipality gets 2.52 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 736 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 207. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 3.6 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.