Wind Turbine Payback in Steuben County, NY
Wind turbine payback in Steuben 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 Steuben County, NY averages 3.94 m/s (8.8 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 6,280 kWh a year, worth $1,837 at NY's 29.26¢/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 Steuben County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Steuben County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 5.6 m/s at the hub against 3.94 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,060 kWh a year here against the turbine's 628, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 80¢/kWh, 2.7 times what NY pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 5.6 m/s instead of 3.94. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of NY
Steuben County is the 2,096th 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 Steuben County
January is the strongest month here, at 4.95 m/s and about 1,034 kWh. August is the weakest, 3.01 m/s and 224 kWh, so the best month makes 4.6 times the worst. November to March brings in 63% of the year's output in Steuben County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.95 m/s | 1,034 kWh | $303 |
| February | 5.00 m/s | 963 kWh | $282 |
| March | 4.63 m/s | 861 kWh | $252 |
| April | 4.26 m/s | 656 kWh | $192 |
| May | 3.59 m/s | 399 kWh | $117 |
| June | 3.29 m/s | 291 kWh | $85 |
| July | 3.11 m/s | 250 kWh | $73 |
| August | 3.01 m/s | 224 kWh | $66 |
| September | 3.21 m/s | 268 kWh | $78 |
| October | 3.70 m/s | 437 kWh | $128 |
| November | 4.09 m/s | 580 kWh | $170 |
| December | 4.48 m/s | 785 kWh | $230 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Steuben County averages 2.52 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.85 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.407, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 3,721 to 11,537 kWh a year, 210% 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 | 3,721 kWh | 92 years |
| 30 m | 3.94 m/s | 6,278 kWh | 54 years |
| 40 m | 4.43 m/s | 8,917 kWh | 38 years |
| 50 m | 4.85 m/s | 11,537 kWh | 30 years |
Counties around Steuben County
None of the 6 closest counties is windier than Steuben County.
- Schuyler County, NY: 3.85 m/s, 5,847 kWh, payback 58 years (25 mi)
- Yates County, NY: 3.85 m/s, 5,847 kWh, payback 58 years (29 mi)
- Allegany County, NY: 3.89 m/s, 6,037 kWh, payback 57 years (33 mi)
- Chemung County, NY: 3.74 m/s, 5,342 kWh, payback 64 years (33 mi)
- Tioga County, PA: 3.86 m/s, 5,894 kWh, payback 80 years (35 mi)
- Livingston County, NY: 3.94 m/s, 6,280 kWh, payback 54 years (38 mi)
Sun versus wind in Steuben County
Steuben County gets 3.63 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,060 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 628. 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.