Wind Turbine Payback in Somerset County, ME
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, ME averages 3.92 m/s (8.8 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 6,182 kWh a year, worth $1,869 at ME's 30.23¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 54 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, 5.6 m/s at the hub against 3.92 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,034 kWh a year here against the turbine's 618, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 81¢/kWh, 2.7 times what ME pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 5.6 m/s instead of 3.92. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of ME
Somerset County is the 2,118th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in ME is Knox County at 6.26 m/s, payback 15 years.
Month by month in Somerset County
March is the strongest month here, at 4.75 m/s and about 926 kWh. August is the weakest, 3.09 m/s and 244 kWh, so the best month makes 3.8 times the worst. November to March brings in 59% of the year's output in Somerset County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.53 m/s | 809 kWh | $245 |
| February | 4.85 m/s | 885 kWh | $268 |
| March | 4.75 m/s | 926 kWh | $280 |
| April | 4.39 m/s | 715 kWh | $216 |
| May | 3.67 m/s | 428 kWh | $129 |
| June | 3.33 m/s | 302 kWh | $91 |
| July | 3.09 m/s | 244 kWh | $74 |
| August | 3.09 m/s | 244 kWh | $74 |
| September | 3.33 m/s | 304 kWh | $92 |
| October | 3.76 m/s | 462 kWh | $140 |
| November | 3.98 m/s | 533 kWh | $161 |
| December | 4.22 m/s | 657 kWh | $199 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Somerset County averages 2.55 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.78 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.390, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 3,734 to 11,082 kWh a year, 197% 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 | 3.34 m/s | 3,734 kWh | 89 years |
| 30 m | 3.92 m/s | 6,165 kWh | 54 years |
| 40 m | 4.38 m/s | 8,642 kWh | 38 years |
| 50 m | 4.78 m/s | 11,082 kWh | 30 years |
Counties around Somerset County
None of the 6 closest counties is windier than Somerset County.
- Franklin County, ME: 3.87 m/s, 5,942 kWh, payback 56 years (43 mi)
- Piscataquis County, ME: 3.89 m/s, 6,037 kWh, payback 55 years (50 mi)
- Penobscot County, ME: 3.57 m/s, 4,612 kWh, payback 72 years (63 mi)
- Kennebec County, ME: 3.51 m/s, 4,368 kWh, payback 76 years (76 mi)
- Oxford County, ME: 3.52 m/s, 4,408 kWh, payback 75 years (79 mi)
- Waldo County, ME: 3.48 m/s, 4,250 kWh, payback 78 years (82 mi)
Sun versus wind in Somerset County
Somerset County gets 3.54 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,034 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 618. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.7 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.