Wind Turbine Payback in Albany County, WY
Wind turbine payback in Albany 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 Albany County, WY averages 7.32 m/s (16.4 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 29,299 kWh a year, worth $4,105 at WY's 14.01¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 24 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Albany County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Albany County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.3 m/s at the hub against 7.32 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,337 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,930, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 17¢/kWh, 1.2 times what WY pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.3 m/s instead of 7.32. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of WY
Albany County is the 7th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. It is the windiest county in WY.
Month by month in Albany County
January is the strongest month here, at 9.55 m/s and about 3,606 kWh. July is the weakest, 5.19 m/s and 1,175 kWh, so the best month makes 3.1 times the worst. November to March brings in 56% of the year's output in Albany County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9.55 m/s | 3,606 kWh | $505 |
| February | 8.79 m/s | 2,955 kWh | $414 |
| March | 8.13 m/s | 2,942 kWh | $412 |
| April | 7.29 m/s | 2,391 kWh | $335 |
| May | 6.28 m/s | 1,850 kWh | $259 |
| June | 5.96 m/s | 1,593 kWh | $223 |
| July | 5.19 m/s | 1,175 kWh | $165 |
| August | 5.39 m/s | 1,294 kWh | $181 |
| September | 6.09 m/s | 1,675 kWh | $235 |
| October | 7.46 m/s | 2,571 kWh | $360 |
| November | 8.60 m/s | 3,082 kWh | $432 |
| December | 9.24 m/s | 3,479 kWh | $487 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Albany County averages 5.85 m/s; at 50 m it is 8.13 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.204, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 25,194 to 34,651 kWh a year, 38% 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 | 6.74 m/s | 25,194 kWh | 28 years |
| 30 m | 7.33 m/s | 29,336 kWh | 24 years |
| 40 m | 7.77 m/s | 32,331 kWh | 22 years |
| 50 m | 8.13 m/s | 34,651 kWh | 21 years |
Counties around Albany County
None of the 6 closest counties is windier than Albany County.
- Platte County, WY: 7.03 m/s, 27,257 kWh, payback 26 years (51 mi)
- Laramie County, WY: 6.76 m/s, 25,311 kWh, payback 28 years (61 mi)
- Carbon County, WY: 6.1 m/s, 20,446 kWh, payback 35 years (63 mi)
- Larimer County, CO: 5.04 m/s, 12,805 kWh, payback 47 years (71 mi)
- Jackson County, CO: 3.69 m/s, 5,121 kWh, payback over 100 years (76 mi)
- Goshen County, WY: 6.38 m/s, 22,521 kWh, payback 32 years (76 mi)
Sun versus wind in Albany County
Albany County gets 4.58 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,337 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,930. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 2.2 times. 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.