Wind Turbine Payback in Yakutat City and Borough, AK
Wind turbine payback in Yakutat City and Borough
No. The turbine wears out before it pays for itself.
At 30 m, the height a home turbine tower usually reaches, the wind in Yakutat City and Borough, AK averages 3.62 m/s (8.1 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 4,820 kWh a year, worth $1,317 at AK's 27.32¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 76 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Yakutat City and Borough
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Yakutat City and Borough unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 5.8 m/s at the hub against 3.62 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 896 kWh a year here against the turbine's 482, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 104¢/kWh, 3.8 times what AK pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 5.8 m/s instead of 3.62. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of AK
Yakutat City and Borough is the 2,367th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in AK is Aleutians West Census Area at 9.35 m/s, payback 9 years.
Month by month in Yakutat City and Borough
December is the strongest month here, at 4.74 m/s and about 922 kWh. July is the weakest, 2.34 m/s and 89 kWh, so the best month makes 10.4 times the worst. November to March brings in 65% of the year's output in Yakutat City and Borough.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.46 m/s | 775 kWh | $212 |
| February | 4.05 m/s | 524 kWh | $143 |
| March | 4.01 m/s | 564 kWh | $154 |
| April | 3.39 m/s | 322 kWh | $88 |
| May | 2.93 m/s | 205 kWh | $56 |
| June | 2.45 m/s | 102 kWh | $28 |
| July | 2.34 m/s | 89 kWh | $24 |
| August | 2.74 m/s | 161 kWh | $44 |
| September | 3.67 m/s | 412 kWh | $113 |
| October | 4.15 m/s | 626 kWh | $171 |
| November | 4.51 m/s | 773 kWh | $211 |
| December | 4.74 m/s | 922 kWh | $252 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Yakutat City and Borough averages 3.15 m/s; at 50 m it is 3.86 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.126, typical of very open, smooth ground where height adds little. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 4,091 to 5,894 kWh a year, 44% 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 | 3.44 m/s | 4,091 kWh | 90 years |
| 30 m | 3.62 m/s | 4,817 kWh | 76 years |
| 40 m | 3.75 m/s | 5,400 kWh | 68 years |
| 50 m | 3.86 m/s | 5,894 kWh | 62 years |
Counties around Yakutat City and Borough
4 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Chugach Census Area, averages 6.07 m/s.
- Skagway Municipality, AK: 2.81 m/s, 2,073 kWh, payback over 100 years (179 mi)
- Haines Borough, AK: 3.76 m/s, 5,432 kWh, payback 67 years (181 mi)
- Copper River Census Area, AK: 2.86 m/s, 2,205 kWh, payback over 100 years (182 mi)
- Hoonah-Angoon Census Area, AK: 4.48 m/s, 9,219 kWh, payback 40 years (195 mi)
- Chugach Census Area, AK: 6.07 m/s, 20,223 kWh, payback 18 years (201 mi)
- Juneau City and Borough, AK: 3.89 m/s, 6,037 kWh, payback 61 years (248 mi)
Sun versus wind in Yakutat City and Borough
Yakutat City and Borough gets 3.07 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 896 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 482. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.9 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.