Wind Turbine Payback in Yates County, NY
Wind turbine payback in Yates 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 Yates County, NY averages 3.85 m/s (8.6 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 5,847 kWh a year, worth $1,711 at NY's 29.26¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 58 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Yates County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Yates County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 5.6 m/s at the hub against 3.85 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,060 kWh a year here against the turbine's 585, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 86¢/kWh, 2.9 times what NY pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 5.6 m/s instead of 3.85. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of NY
Yates County is the 2,176th 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 Yates County
January is the strongest month here, at 4.73 m/s and about 914 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.97 m/s and 212 kWh, so the best month makes 4.3 times the worst. November to March brings in 61% of the year's output in Yates County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.73 m/s | 914 kWh | $267 |
| February | 4.83 m/s | 874 kWh | $256 |
| March | 4.55 m/s | 819 kWh | $240 |
| April | 4.19 m/s | 622 kWh | $182 |
| May | 3.55 m/s | 386 kWh | $113 |
| June | 3.26 m/s | 282 kWh | $83 |
| July | 3.05 m/s | 233 kWh | $68 |
| August | 2.97 m/s | 212 kWh | $62 |
| September | 3.19 m/s | 262 kWh | $77 |
| October | 3.61 m/s | 406 kWh | $119 |
| November | 3.98 m/s | 532 kWh | $156 |
| December | 4.30 m/s | 693 kWh | $203 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Yates County averages 2.49 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.71 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.396, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 3,494 to 10,635 kWh a year, 204% 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 | 3.28 m/s | 3,494 kWh | 98 years |
| 30 m | 3.85 m/s | 5,835 kWh | 59 years |
| 40 m | 4.31 m/s | 8,242 kWh | 42 years |
| 50 m | 4.71 m/s | 10,635 kWh | 32 years |
Counties around Yates County
5 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Ontario County, averages 4.16 m/s.
- Seneca County, NY: 4.06 m/s, 6,883 kWh, payback 50 years (17 mi)
- Schuyler County, NY: 3.85 m/s, 5,847 kWh, payback 58 years (17 mi)
- Ontario County, NY: 4.16 m/s, 7,408 kWh, payback 46 years (18 mi)
- Steuben County, NY: 3.94 m/s, 6,280 kWh, payback 54 years (29 mi)
- Tompkins County, NY: 3.88 m/s, 5,989 kWh, payback 57 years (35 mi)
- Livingston County, NY: 3.94 m/s, 6,280 kWh, payback 54 years (35 mi)
Sun versus wind in Yates County
Yates County gets 3.63 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,060 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 585. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.8 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.