Enter your turbine's power output, average wind speed, electricity price, and total installation cost to calculate your wind turbine profit. You'll get back your annual revenue, net profit, and payback period — with a full breakdown of energy generation and costs.
Lifetime Net Profit
--
Annual Energy Generated
--
Annual Revenue
--
Annual Net Profit
--
Payback Period
--
Total Lifetime Revenue
--
Total Lifetime Costs
--
Return on Investment (ROI)
--
A small residential wind turbine (5–10 kW) in a good wind location can generate $500–$2,000 per year in electricity value. Utility-scale turbines (2–3 MW) can earn $200,000–$400,000 annually. Profitability depends heavily on average wind speed, local electricity prices, and upfront installation costs.
For small residential turbines, payback periods typically range from 6 to 30 years depending on wind resource and electricity prices. Commercial and utility-scale turbines generally pay back within 5–15 years. Most modern turbines have a design life of 20–25 years, meaning many installations do generate a net profit over their lifetime.
Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines (HAWT) have blades that rotate around a horizontal axis — these are the tall, three-blade turbines commonly seen on wind farms. They are more efficient and better suited to steady, directional winds. Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT) rotate around a vertical axis and can capture wind from any direction, making them suitable for turbulent urban environments, though they are generally less efficient.
Wind turbine power is calculated using the formula: P = 0.5 × ρ × A × v³ × η, where ρ is air density (kg/m³), A is the rotor swept area (m²), v is wind speed (m/s), and η is turbine efficiency. Because power scales with the cube of wind speed, even a small increase in average wind speed dramatically increases energy output.
The capacity factor is the ratio of actual energy produced to the maximum possible if the turbine ran at full rated power all year. Onshore wind turbines typically have capacity factors between 25–40%, while offshore turbines can reach 40–50%. A higher capacity factor means more energy and more revenue for the same rated power.
Wind turbines can be financially worthwhile in locations with consistent wind speeds above 5–6 m/s and reasonable electricity prices. They also offer long-term energy cost savings, potential revenue from selling electricity back to the grid, and environmental benefits. The key factors are installation cost, wind resource quality, and local electricity rates.
Air density directly affects the power a turbine can extract from the wind. At sea level, standard air density is 1.225 kg/m³. At higher altitudes or in warmer climates, air is less dense, reducing power output. For example, a turbine at 2,000m altitude may see 10–15% lower output compared to sea level due to reduced air density.
A 5 kW residential turbine at a 30% capacity factor produces roughly 36 kWh per day (5 kW × 24 h × 0.30). A 2 MW commercial turbine at the same capacity factor generates about 14,400 kWh per day. Actual output depends heavily on local wind conditions and turbine efficiency.