The cost of residential wind turbines vary depending on how much power they can produce and other factors. A rough range is $4,000 to $8,000 per rated kilowatt. A system that would offset most of an average home’s electricity use (10,000 kwh/year) will cost roughly $50,000 before incentives.
***Residential wind systems cost between "$3,200 to $5,500 for every kilowatt of generating capacity." For a 3 to 10kW system the installation costs average around $14,000 to $48,000.(If you are an electrician and have a team to help.)
How do I calculate a payback?
Determine the amount you pay on electricity bills before you install your system. If your system offsets all your electricity, you can divide its cost by the annual bill to determine how many years it will take to pay off. If you are only offsetting part of your use, you need to adjust the calculation accordingly.
Windustry offers a wind energy payback period worksheet that goes into more detail, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory has a calculator and a paper on the economics of grid-tied small wind.
