Wind Turbine Payback in Upson County, GA
Wind turbine payback in Upson 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 Upson County, GA averages 3.15 m/s (7 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 3,067 kWh a year, worth $475 at GA's 15.48¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of over 100 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Upson County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Upson County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.8 m/s at the hub against 3.15 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,346 kWh a year here against the turbine's 307, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 163¢/kWh, 10.5 times what GA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.8 m/s instead of 3.15. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of GA
Upson County is the 2,941st windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in GA is Glynn County at 5.08 m/s, payback 49 years.
Month by month in Upson County
March is the strongest month here, at 3.66 m/s and about 423 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.43 m/s and 102 kWh, so the best month makes 4.1 times the worst. November to March brings in 57% of the year's output in Upson County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.59 m/s | 400 kWh | $62 |
| February | 3.59 m/s | 361 kWh | $56 |
| March | 3.66 m/s | 423 kWh | $65 |
| April | 3.55 m/s | 374 kWh | $58 |
| May | 3.08 m/s | 241 kWh | $37 |
| June | 2.62 m/s | 131 kWh | $20 |
| July | 2.44 m/s | 105 kWh | $16 |
| August | 2.43 m/s | 102 kWh | $16 |
| September | 2.90 m/s | 190 kWh | $29 |
| October | 3.16 m/s | 262 kWh | $41 |
| November | 3.37 m/s | 316 kWh | $49 |
| December | 3.42 m/s | 342 kWh | $53 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Upson County averages 1.86 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.02 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.479, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 1,547 to 6,678 kWh a year, 332% 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 | 2.59 m/s | 1,547 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.15 m/s | 3,058 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 3.61 m/s | 4,788 kWh | over 100 years |
| 50 m | 4.02 m/s | 6,678 kWh | 97 years |
Counties around Upson County
4 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Crawford County, averages 4.01 m/s.
- Pike County, GA: 3.15 m/s, 3,067 kWh, payback over 100 years (15 mi)
- Lamar County, GA: 3.15 m/s, 3,067 kWh, payback over 100 years (16 mi)
- Talbot County, GA: 3.51 m/s, 4,368 kWh, payback over 100 years (18 mi)
- Crawford County, GA: 4.01 m/s, 6,628 kWh, payback 98 years (22 mi)
- Taylor County, GA: 3.51 m/s, 4,368 kWh, payback over 100 years (23 mi)
- Monroe County, GA: 3.23 m/s, 3,333 kWh, payback over 100 years (23 mi)
Sun versus wind in Upson County
Upson County gets 4.61 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,346 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 307. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 4.4 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.