Wind Turbine Payback in Wayne County, IN
Wind turbine payback in Wayne 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 Wayne County, IN averages 5.92 m/s (13.2 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 19,112 kWh a year, worth $3,257 at IN's 17.04¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 31 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Wayne County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Wayne County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.3 m/s at the hub against 5.92 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,165 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,911, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 26¢/kWh, 1.5 times what IN pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.3 m/s instead of 5.92. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of IN
Wayne County is the 959th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in IN is Lake County at 6.17 m/s, payback 28 years.
Month by month in Wayne County
January is the strongest month here, at 6.89 m/s and about 2,230 kWh. August is the weakest, 4.39 m/s and 739 kWh, so the best month makes 3.0 times the worst. November to March brings in 53% of the year's output in Wayne County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.89 m/s | 2,230 kWh | $380 |
| February | 6.74 m/s | 1,930 kWh | $329 |
| March | 6.64 m/s | 2,077 kWh | $354 |
| April | 6.86 m/s | 2,137 kWh | $364 |
| May | 5.82 m/s | 1,563 kWh | $266 |
| June | 5.13 m/s | 1,103 kWh | $188 |
| July | 4.44 m/s | 761 kWh | $130 |
| August | 4.39 m/s | 739 kWh | $126 |
| September | 4.97 m/s | 1,014 kWh | $173 |
| October | 6.10 m/s | 1,736 kWh | $296 |
| November | 6.55 m/s | 1,956 kWh | $333 |
| December | 6.60 m/s | 2,049 kWh | $349 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Wayne County averages 4.6 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.66 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.230, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 15,279 to 24,582 kWh a year, 61% 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 | 5.39 m/s | 15,279 kWh | 38 years |
| 30 m | 5.92 m/s | 19,125 kWh | 31 years |
| 40 m | 6.33 m/s | 22,127 kWh | 27 years |
| 50 m | 6.66 m/s | 24,582 kWh | 24 years |
Counties around Wayne County
None of the 6 closest counties is windier than Wayne County.
- Union County, IN: 5.35 m/s, 14,963 kWh, payback 39 years (17 mi)
- Fayette County, IN: 5.35 m/s, 14,963 kWh, payback 39 years (18 mi)
- Randolph County, IN: 5.92 m/s, 19,112 kWh, payback 31 years (21 mi)
- Preble County, OH: 5.33 m/s, 14,821 kWh, payback 36 years (21 mi)
- Henry County, IN: 5.87 m/s, 18,742 kWh, payback 31 years (21 mi)
- Darke County, OH: 5.77 m/s, 18,006 kWh, payback 30 years (28 mi)
Sun versus wind in Wayne County
Wayne County gets 3.99 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,165 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,911. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.6 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.