Wind Turbine Payback in Woodford County, KY
Wind turbine payback in Woodford 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 Woodford County, KY averages 4.62 m/s (10.3 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 10,070 kWh a year, worth $1,430 at KY's 14.2¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 70 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Woodford County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Woodford County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.2 m/s at the hub against 4.62 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,186 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,007, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 50¢/kWh, 3.5 times what KY pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.2 m/s instead of 4.62. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of KY
Woodford County is the 1,678th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in KY is Fulton County at 5.54 m/s, payback 43 years.
Month by month in Woodford County
January is the strongest month here, at 5.43 m/s and about 1,318 kWh. August is the weakest, 3.44 m/s and 348 kWh, so the best month makes 3.8 times the worst. November to March brings in 56% of the year's output in Woodford County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.43 m/s | 1,318 kWh | $187 |
| February | 5.41 m/s | 1,181 kWh | $168 |
| March | 5.38 m/s | 1,292 kWh | $183 |
| April | 5.44 m/s | 1,280 kWh | $182 |
| May | 4.50 m/s | 792 kWh | $112 |
| June | 3.88 m/s | 492 kWh | $70 |
| July | 3.48 m/s | 362 kWh | $51 |
| August | 3.44 m/s | 348 kWh | $49 |
| September | 3.88 m/s | 492 kWh | $70 |
| October | 4.60 m/s | 846 kWh | $120 |
| November | 4.97 m/s | 1,014 kWh | $144 |
| December | 5.13 m/s | 1,138 kWh | $162 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Woodford County averages 3.34 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.37 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.295, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 7,080 to 15,105 kWh a year, 113% 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 | 4.1 m/s | 7,080 kWh | 100 years |
| 30 m | 4.62 m/s | 10,063 kWh | 70 years |
| 40 m | 5.03 m/s | 12,723 kWh | 55 years |
| 50 m | 5.37 m/s | 15,105 kWh | 47 years |
Counties around Woodford County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Jessamine County, averages 4.7 m/s.
- Anderson County, KY: 4.62 m/s, 10,070 kWh, payback 70 years (13 mi)
- Franklin County, KY: 4.62 m/s, 10,070 kWh, payback 70 years (15 mi)
- Jessamine County, KY: 4.7 m/s, 10,571 kWh, payback 67 years (15 mi)
- Fayette County, KY: 4.7 m/s, 10,571 kWh, payback 67 years (16 mi)
- Mercer County, KY: 4.62 m/s, 10,070 kWh, payback 70 years (17 mi)
- Scott County, KY: 3.67 m/s, 5,034 kWh, payback over 100 years (19 mi)
Sun versus wind in Woodford County
Woodford County gets 4.06 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,186 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,007. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.2 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.