Wind Turbine Payback in Banner County, NE
Wind turbine payback in Banner 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 Banner County, NE averages 6.44 m/s (14.4 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 22,964 kWh a year, worth $2,967 at NE's 12.92¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 34 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Banner County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Banner County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.8 m/s at the hub against 6.44 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,352 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,296, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 22¢/kWh, 1.7 times what NE pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.8 m/s instead of 6.44. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of NE
Banner County is the 280th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in NE is Cherry County at 6.83 m/s, payback 30 years.
Month by month in Banner County
January is the strongest month here, at 7.49 m/s and about 2,586 kWh. July is the weakest, 5.21 m/s and 1,190 kWh, so the best month makes 2.2 times the worst. November to March brings in 52% of the year's output in Banner County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.49 m/s | 2,586 kWh | $334 |
| February | 7.12 m/s | 2,141 kWh | $277 |
| March | 6.99 m/s | 2,290 kWh | $296 |
| April | 6.77 m/s | 2,084 kWh | $269 |
| May | 6.00 m/s | 1,673 kWh | $216 |
| June | 5.61 m/s | 1,382 kWh | $179 |
| July | 5.21 m/s | 1,190 kWh | $154 |
| August | 5.28 m/s | 1,227 kWh | $159 |
| September | 5.75 m/s | 1,468 kWh | $190 |
| October | 6.58 m/s | 2,037 kWh | $263 |
| November | 7.10 m/s | 2,279 kWh | $294 |
| December | 7.35 m/s | 2,509 kWh | $324 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Banner County averages 5.03 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.22 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.225, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 18,779 to 28,601 kWh a year, 52% 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 | 5.87 m/s | 18,779 kWh | 41 years |
| 30 m | 6.44 m/s | 22,935 kWh | 34 years |
| 40 m | 6.87 m/s | 26,083 kWh | 30 years |
| 50 m | 7.22 m/s | 28,601 kWh | 27 years |
Counties around Banner County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Laramie County, averages 6.76 m/s.
- Scotts Bluff County, NE: 6.25 m/s, 21,558 kWh, payback 36 years (22 mi)
- Kimball County, NE: 6.1 m/s, 20,446 kWh, payback 38 years (24 mi)
- Morrill County, NE: 6.33 m/s, 22,151 kWh, payback 35 years (40 mi)
- Cheyenne County, NE: 6.17 m/s, 20,965 kWh, payback 37 years (43 mi)
- Goshen County, WY: 6.38 m/s, 22,521 kWh, payback 32 years (50 mi)
- Laramie County, WY: 6.76 m/s, 25,311 kWh, payback 28 years (51 mi)
Sun versus wind in Banner County
Banner County gets 4.63 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,352 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,296. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.7 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.