Wind Turbine Payback in Acadia Parish, LA
Wind turbine payback in Acadia Parish
No. The turbine wears out before it pays for itself.
At 30 m, the height a home turbine tower usually reaches, the wind in Acadia Parish, LA averages 4.4 m/s (9.8 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 8,748 kWh a year, worth $1,161 at LA's 13.27¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 86 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Acadia Parish
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Acadia Parish unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.6 m/s at the hub against 4.4 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,349 kWh a year here against the turbine's 875, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 57¢/kWh, 4.3 times what LA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.6 m/s instead of 4.4. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of LA
Acadia Parish is the 1,818th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in LA is Iberia Parish at 5.86 m/s, payback 40 years.
Month by month in Acadia Parish
March is the strongest month here, at 5.05 m/s and about 1,094 kWh. July is the weakest, 3.34 m/s and 316 kWh, so the best month makes 3.5 times the worst. November to March brings in 55% of the year's output in Acadia Parish.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.96 m/s | 1,040 kWh | $138 |
| February | 5.11 m/s | 1,020 kWh | $135 |
| March | 5.05 m/s | 1,094 kWh | $145 |
| April | 5.09 m/s | 1,078 kWh | $143 |
| May | 4.47 m/s | 778 kWh | $103 |
| June | 3.74 m/s | 440 kWh | $58 |
| July | 3.34 m/s | 316 kWh | $42 |
| August | 3.39 m/s | 332 kWh | $44 |
| September | 3.84 m/s | 478 kWh | $63 |
| October | 4.27 m/s | 681 kWh | $90 |
| November | 4.71 m/s | 874 kWh | $116 |
| December | 4.92 m/s | 1,021 kWh | $135 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Acadia Parish averages 3.15 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.14 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.304, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 6,039 to 13,490 kWh a year, 123% 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 | 3.89 m/s | 6,039 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 4.4 m/s | 8,752 kWh | 86 years |
| 40 m | 4.8 m/s | 11,230 kWh | 67 years |
| 50 m | 5.14 m/s | 13,490 kWh | 56 years |
Counties around Acadia Parish
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Vermilion Parish, averages 5.37 m/s.
- Lafayette Parish, LA: 5.19 m/s, 13,837 kWh, payback 55 years (22 mi)
- Jefferson Davis Parish, LA: 3.83 m/s, 5,753 kWh, payback over 100 years (24 mi)
- Evangeline Parish, LA: 4.4 m/s, 8,748 kWh, payback 86 years (30 mi)
- St. Landry Parish, LA: 4.77 m/s, 11,018 kWh, payback 68 years (32 mi)
- Vermilion Parish, LA: 5.37 m/s, 15,105 kWh, payback 50 years (34 mi)
- Allen Parish, LA: 3.83 m/s, 5,753 kWh, payback over 100 years (35 mi)
Sun versus wind in Acadia Parish
Acadia Parish gets 4.62 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,349 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 875. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.5 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.