Wind Turbine Payback in Suffolk County, NY
Wind turbine payback in Suffolk County
Only just. The money comes back late in the turbine's life.
At 30 m, the height a home turbine tower usually reaches, the wind in Suffolk County, NY averages 6.01 m/s (13.4 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 19,778 kWh a year, worth $5,787 at NY's 29.26¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 17 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Suffolk County
It is close enough that your own site decides it. If you have open land with no trees or buildings upwind, ask an installer to log the wind at 30 m or higher; anything above 5.6 m/s pays back in time. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,162 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,978, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power already costs enough here: break-even is 25¢/kWh and NY pays 29.26¢.
- The wind clears the break-even speed of 5.6 m/s at today's price.
Against the rest of NY
Suffolk County is the 826th 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 Suffolk County
January is the strongest month here, at 7.07 m/s and about 2,341 kWh. August is the weakest, 4.73 m/s and 916 kWh, so the best month makes 2.6 times the worst. November to March brings in 55% of the year's output in Suffolk County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.07 m/s | 2,341 kWh | $685 |
| February | 6.95 m/s | 2,050 kWh | $600 |
| March | 6.75 m/s | 2,141 kWh | $626 |
| April | 6.16 m/s | 1,719 kWh | $503 |
| May | 5.43 m/s | 1,316 kWh | $385 |
| June | 5.01 m/s | 1,034 kWh | $303 |
| July | 4.88 m/s | 996 kWh | $291 |
| August | 4.73 m/s | 916 kWh | $268 |
| September | 5.23 m/s | 1,163 kWh | $340 |
| October | 6.30 m/s | 1,862 kWh | $545 |
| November | 6.65 m/s | 2,011 kWh | $588 |
| December | 7.03 m/s | 2,313 kWh | $677 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Suffolk County averages 4.91 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.6 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.184, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 16,587 to 24,142 kWh a year, 46% 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 | 5.58 m/s | 16,587 kWh | 21 years |
| 30 m | 6.01 m/s | 19,763 kWh | 17 years |
| 40 m | 6.33 m/s | 22,184 kWh | 15 years |
| 50 m | 6.6 m/s | 24,142 kWh | 14 years |
Counties around Suffolk County
None of the 6 closest counties is windier than Suffolk County.
- South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT: 3.65 m/s, 4,948 kWh, payback 74 years (25 mi)
- Greater Bridgeport Planning Region, CT: 5.26 m/s, 14,327 kWh, payback 25 years (32 mi)
- Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region, CT: 3.85 m/s, 5,847 kWh, payback 62 years (35 mi)
- Naugatuck Valley Planning Region, CT: 3.65 m/s, 4,948 kWh, payback 74 years (45 mi)
- Western Connecticut Planning Region, CT: 3.47 m/s, 4,211 kWh, payback 87 years (46 mi)
- Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region, CT: 4.21 m/s, 7,678 kWh, payback 47 years (48 mi)
Sun versus wind in Suffolk County
Suffolk County gets 3.98 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,162 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,978. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.7 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.