Wind Turbine Payback in Bastrop County, TX
Wind turbine payback in Bastrop 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 Bastrop County, TX averages 5.43 m/s (12.1 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 15,534 kWh a year, worth $2,490 at TX's 16.03¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 40 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Bastrop County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Bastrop County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.6 m/s at the hub against 5.43 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,405 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,553, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 32¢/kWh, 2.0 times what TX pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.6 m/s instead of 5.43. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of TX
Bastrop County is the 1,252nd 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 Bastrop County
March is the strongest month here, at 6.05 m/s and about 1,704 kWh. September is the weakest, 4.51 m/s and 775 kWh, so the best month makes 2.2 times the worst. November to March brings in 49% of the year's output in Bastrop County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.80 m/s | 1,548 kWh | $248 |
| February | 6.00 m/s | 1,509 kWh | $242 |
| March | 6.05 m/s | 1,704 kWh | $273 |
| April | 6.13 m/s | 1,698 kWh | $272 |
| May | 5.76 m/s | 1,520 kWh | $244 |
| June | 5.06 m/s | 1,066 kWh | $171 |
| July | 4.72 m/s | 908 kWh | $146 |
| August | 4.53 m/s | 810 kWh | $130 |
| September | 4.51 m/s | 775 kWh | $124 |
| October | 5.19 m/s | 1,174 kWh | $188 |
| November | 5.67 m/s | 1,418 kWh | $227 |
| December | 5.76 m/s | 1,526 kWh | $245 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Bastrop County averages 4.19 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.12 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.235, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 12,095 to 20,594 kWh a year, 70% 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 | 4.93 m/s | 12,095 kWh | 52 years |
| 30 m | 5.43 m/s | 15,517 kWh | 40 years |
| 40 m | 5.81 m/s | 18,280 kWh | 34 years |
| 50 m | 6.12 m/s | 20,594 kWh | 30 years |
Counties around Bastrop County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Hays County, averages 5.56 m/s.
- Travis County, TX: 5.43 m/s, 15,534 kWh, payback 40 years (25 mi)
- Lee County, TX: 5.41 m/s, 15,390 kWh, payback 41 years (25 mi)
- Caldwell County, TX: 5.43 m/s, 15,534 kWh, payback 40 years (27 mi)
- Fayette County, TX: 5.39 m/s, 15,247 kWh, payback 41 years (28 mi)
- Williamson County, TX: 5.52 m/s, 16,181 kWh, payback 39 years (42 mi)
- Hays County, TX: 5.56 m/s, 16,471 kWh, payback 38 years (43 mi)
Sun versus wind in Bastrop County
Bastrop County gets 4.81 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,405 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,553. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.1 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.