Wind Turbine Payback in Ulster County, NY
Wind turbine payback in Ulster 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 Ulster County, NY averages 3.73 m/s (8.3 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 5,297 kWh a year, worth $1,550 at NY's 29.26¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 65 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Ulster County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Ulster County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 5.6 m/s at the hub against 3.73 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,101 kWh a year here against the turbine's 530, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 94¢/kWh, 3.2 times what NY pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 5.6 m/s instead of 3.73. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of NY
Ulster County is the 2,261st 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 Ulster County
January is the strongest month here, at 4.61 m/s and about 852 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.88 m/s and 192 kWh, so the best month makes 4.4 times the worst. November to March brings in 63% of the year's output in Ulster County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.61 m/s | 852 kWh | $249 |
| February | 4.76 m/s | 839 kWh | $245 |
| March | 4.51 m/s | 797 kWh | $233 |
| April | 4.06 m/s | 564 kWh | $165 |
| May | 3.38 m/s | 328 kWh | $96 |
| June | 3.07 m/s | 232 kWh | $68 |
| July | 2.92 m/s | 201 kWh | $59 |
| August | 2.88 m/s | 192 kWh | $56 |
| September | 3.08 m/s | 234 kWh | $68 |
| October | 3.55 m/s | 384 kWh | $112 |
| November | 3.85 m/s | 479 kWh | $140 |
| December | 4.24 m/s | 667 kWh | $195 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Ulster County averages 2.35 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.63 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.421, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 3,060 to 10,132 kWh a year, 231% 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 | 3.15 m/s | 3,060 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.73 m/s | 5,315 kWh | 64 years |
| 40 m | 4.21 m/s | 7,704 kWh | 44 years |
| 50 m | 4.63 m/s | 10,132 kWh | 34 years |
Counties around Ulster County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Greene County, averages 3.77 m/s.
- Greene County, NY: 3.77 m/s, 5,477 kWh, payback 62 years (24 mi)
- Dutchess County, NY: 3.37 m/s, 3,830 kWh, payback 89 years (30 mi)
- Sullivan County, NY: 3.64 m/s, 4,905 kWh, payback 70 years (30 mi)
- Orange County, NY: 3.47 m/s, 4,211 kWh, payback 81 years (38 mi)
- Columbia County, NY: 3.37 m/s, 3,830 kWh, payback 89 years (39 mi)
- Delaware County, NY: 3.77 m/s, 5,477 kWh, payback 62 years (40 mi)
Sun versus wind in Ulster County
Ulster County gets 3.77 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,101 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 530. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 2.1 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.