Wind Turbine Payback in Wyoming County, NY
Wind turbine payback in Wyoming 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 Wyoming County, NY averages 4.03 m/s (9 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 6,729 kWh a year, worth $1,969 at NY's 29.26¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 51 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Wyoming County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Wyoming County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 5.6 m/s at the hub against 4.03 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,048 kWh a year here against the turbine's 673, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 74¢/kWh, 2.5 times what NY pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 5.6 m/s instead of 4.03. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of NY
Wyoming County is the 2,037th 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 Wyoming County
January is the strongest month here, at 5.20 m/s and about 1,183 kWh. August is the weakest, 3.06 m/s and 236 kWh, so the best month makes 5.0 times the worst. November to March brings in 64% of the year's output in Wyoming County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.20 m/s | 1,183 kWh | $346 |
| February | 5.22 m/s | 1,077 kWh | $315 |
| March | 4.71 m/s | 901 kWh | $264 |
| April | 4.31 m/s | 675 kWh | $198 |
| May | 3.60 m/s | 401 kWh | $117 |
| June | 3.30 m/s | 295 kWh | $86 |
| July | 3.14 m/s | 258 kWh | $75 |
| August | 3.06 m/s | 236 kWh | $69 |
| September | 3.25 m/s | 281 kWh | $82 |
| October | 3.78 m/s | 468 kWh | $137 |
| November | 4.19 m/s | 623 kWh | $182 |
| December | 4.67 m/s | 884 kWh | $259 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Wyoming County averages 2.6 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.94 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.399, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 4,046 to 12,132 kWh a year, 200% 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 | 3.43 m/s | 4,046 kWh | 85 years |
| 30 m | 4.03 m/s | 6,725 kWh | 51 years |
| 40 m | 4.52 m/s | 9,454 kWh | 36 years |
| 50 m | 4.94 m/s | 12,132 kWh | 28 years |
Counties around Wyoming County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Orleans County, averages 6.86 m/s.
- Genesee County, NY: 4.08 m/s, 6,986 kWh, payback 49 years (21 mi)
- Livingston County, NY: 3.94 m/s, 6,280 kWh, payback 54 years (23 mi)
- Erie County, NY: 5.02 m/s, 12,670 kWh, payback 27 years (28 mi)
- Allegany County, NY: 3.89 m/s, 6,037 kWh, payback 57 years (33 mi)
- Cattaraugus County, NY: 3.89 m/s, 6,037 kWh, payback 57 years (39 mi)
- Orleans County, NY: 6.86 m/s, 26,036 kWh, payback 13 years (44 mi)
Sun versus wind in Wyoming County
Wyoming County gets 3.59 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,048 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 673. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.6 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.