Wind Turbine Payback in Somerset County, MD
Wind turbine payback in Somerset 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 Somerset County, MD averages 6.35 m/s (14.2 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 22,299 kWh a year, worth $4,752 at MD's 21.31¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 21 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Somerset County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Somerset County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 6.5 m/s at the hub against 6.35 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,226 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,230, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 22¢/kWh, 1.1 times what MD pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 6.5 m/s instead of 6.35. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of MD
Somerset County is the 402nd windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in MD is Worcester County at 7.01 m/s, payback 17 years.
Month by month in Somerset County
January is the strongest month here, at 7.28 m/s and about 2,467 kWh. August is the weakest, 4.84 m/s and 976 kWh, so the best month makes 2.5 times the worst. November to March brings in 52% of the year's output in Somerset County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.28 m/s | 2,467 kWh | $526 |
| February | 7.20 m/s | 2,184 kWh | $465 |
| March | 7.23 m/s | 2,435 kWh | $519 |
| April | 7.18 m/s | 2,330 kWh | $497 |
| May | 6.16 m/s | 1,774 kWh | $378 |
| June | 5.53 m/s | 1,338 kWh | $285 |
| July | 5.03 m/s | 1,079 kWh | $230 |
| August | 4.84 m/s | 976 kWh | $208 |
| September | 5.61 m/s | 1,386 kWh | $295 |
| October | 6.34 m/s | 1,888 kWh | $402 |
| November | 6.79 m/s | 2,101 kWh | $448 |
| December | 7.03 m/s | 2,315 kWh | $493 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Somerset County averages 5.15 m/s; at 50 m it is 7 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.191, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 18,788 to 27,043 kWh a year, 44% 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 | 5.88 m/s | 18,788 kWh | 25 years |
| 30 m | 6.35 m/s | 22,294 kWh | 21 years |
| 40 m | 6.71 m/s | 24,932 kWh | 19 years |
| 50 m | 7 m/s | 27,043 kWh | 17 years |
Counties around Somerset County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Worcester County, averages 7.01 m/s.
- Accomack County, VA: 6.35 m/s, 22,299 kWh, payback 27 years (22 mi)
- Wicomico County, MD: 5.87 m/s, 18,742 kWh, payback 25 years (24 mi)
- Dorchester County, MD: 5.21 m/s, 13,976 kWh, payback 34 years (27 mi)
- Worcester County, MD: 7.01 m/s, 27,114 kWh, payback 17 years (31 mi)
- Northumberland County, VA: 5.43 m/s, 15,534 kWh, payback 38 years (32 mi)
- St. Mary's County, MD: 5.43 m/s, 15,534 kWh, payback 30 years (38 mi)
Sun versus wind in Somerset County
Somerset County gets 4.2 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,226 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,230. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.8 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.