Wind Turbine Payback in Bandera County, TX
Wind turbine payback in Bandera 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 Bandera County, TX averages 5.9 m/s (13.2 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 18,964 kWh a year, worth $3,040 at TX's 16.03¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 33 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Bandera County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Bandera County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.6 m/s at the hub against 5.9 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,416 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,896, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 26¢/kWh, 1.6 times what TX pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.6 m/s instead of 5.9. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of TX
Bandera County is the 988th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in TX is Dallam County at 6.82 m/s, payback 24 years.
Month by month in Bandera County
April is the strongest month here, at 6.61 m/s and about 1,992 kWh. September is the weakest, 5.00 m/s and 1,028 kWh, so the best month makes 1.9 times the worst. November to March brings in 46% of the year's output in Bandera County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.06 m/s | 1,711 kWh | $274 |
| February | 6.26 m/s | 1,657 kWh | $266 |
| March | 6.45 m/s | 1,958 kWh | $314 |
| April | 6.61 m/s | 1,992 kWh | $319 |
| May | 6.26 m/s | 1,835 kWh | $294 |
| June | 5.81 m/s | 1,504 kWh | $241 |
| July | 5.38 m/s | 1,289 kWh | $207 |
| August | 5.05 m/s | 1,093 kWh | $175 |
| September | 5.00 m/s | 1,028 kWh | $165 |
| October | 5.76 m/s | 1,520 kWh | $244 |
| November | 6.06 m/s | 1,656 kWh | $265 |
| December | 6.07 m/s | 1,716 kWh | $275 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Bandera County averages 4.63 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.6 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.220, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 15,284 to 24,142 kWh a year, 58% 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 | 5.4 m/s | 15,284 kWh | 41 years |
| 30 m | 5.9 m/s | 18,952 kWh | 33 years |
| 40 m | 6.28 m/s | 21,809 kWh | 29 years |
| 50 m | 6.6 m/s | 24,142 kWh | 26 years |
Counties around Bandera County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Real County, averages 6.07 m/s.
- Kerr County, TX: 5.9 m/s, 18,964 kWh, payback 33 years (22 mi)
- Medina County, TX: 5.43 m/s, 15,534 kWh, payback 40 years (29 mi)
- Real County, TX: 6.07 m/s, 20,223 kWh, payback 31 years (34 mi)
- Kendall County, TX: 5.75 m/s, 17,859 kWh, payback 35 years (35 mi)
- Uvalde County, TX: 5.61 m/s, 16,834 kWh, payback 37 years (42 mi)
- Gillespie County, TX: 5.89 m/s, 18,890 kWh, payback 33 years (43 mi)
Sun versus wind in Bandera County
Bandera County gets 4.85 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,416 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,896. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.3 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.