Wind Turbine Payback in Wise County, VA
Wind turbine payback in Wise 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 Wise County, VA averages 3.25 m/s (7.3 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 3,402 kWh a year, worth $577 at VA's 16.95¢/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 Wise County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Wise County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.3 m/s at the hub against 3.25 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,232 kWh a year here against the turbine's 340, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 147¢/kWh, 8.7 times what VA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.3 m/s instead of 3.25. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of VA
Wise County is the 2,816th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in VA is Northampton County at 7.01 m/s, payback 22 years.
Month by month in Wise County
March is the strongest month here, at 3.93 m/s and about 530 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.40 m/s and 98 kWh, so the best month makes 5.4 times the worst. November to March brings in 60% of the year's output in Wise County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.84 m/s | 494 kWh | $84 |
| February | 3.98 m/s | 497 kWh | $84 |
| March | 3.93 m/s | 530 kWh | $90 |
| April | 3.80 m/s | 463 kWh | $78 |
| May | 3.13 m/s | 254 kWh | $43 |
| June | 2.70 m/s | 148 kWh | $25 |
| July | 2.50 m/s | 115 kWh | $19 |
| August | 2.40 m/s | 98 kWh | $17 |
| September | 2.68 m/s | 144 kWh | $24 |
| October | 3.13 m/s | 256 kWh | $43 |
| November | 3.40 m/s | 323 kWh | $55 |
| December | 3.59 m/s | 398 kWh | $67 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Wise County averages 2 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.08 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.443, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 1,843 to 6,986 kWh a year, 279% 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 | 2.72 m/s | 1,843 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.25 m/s | 3,415 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 3.7 m/s | 5,147 kWh | over 100 years |
| 50 m | 4.08 m/s | 6,986 kWh | 85 years |
Counties around Wise County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Scott County, averages 3.68 m/s.
- Norton city, VA: 3.25 m/s, 3,402 kWh, payback over 100 years (3 mi)
- Letcher County, KY: 3.21 m/s, 3,265 kWh, payback over 100 years (17 mi)
- Scott County, VA: 3.68 m/s, 5,077 kWh, payback over 100 years (18 mi)
- Dickenson County, VA: 3.25 m/s, 3,402 kWh, payback over 100 years (19 mi)
- Russell County, VA: 3.29 m/s, 3,541 kWh, payback over 100 years (29 mi)
- Knott County, KY: 3.23 m/s, 3,333 kWh, payback over 100 years (32 mi)
Sun versus wind in Wise County
Wise County gets 4.22 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,232 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 340. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 3.6 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.