Wind Turbine Payback in Bay County, FL
Wind turbine payback in Bay 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 Bay County, FL averages 5.21 m/s (11.7 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 13,976 kWh a year, worth $2,141 at FL's 15.32¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 47 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Bay County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Bay County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.8 m/s at the hub against 5.21 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,402 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,398, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 36¢/kWh, 2.3 times what FL pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.8 m/s instead of 5.21. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of FL
Bay County is the 1,373rd windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in FL is Brevard County at 5.62 m/s, payback 39 years.
Month by month in Bay County
January is the strongest month here, at 6.23 m/s and about 1,821 kWh. August is the weakest, 4.04 m/s and 575 kWh, so the best month makes 3.2 times the worst. November to March brings in 57% of the year's output in Bay County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.23 m/s | 1,821 kWh | $279 |
| February | 5.98 m/s | 1,502 kWh | $230 |
| March | 5.85 m/s | 1,582 kWh | $242 |
| April | 5.48 m/s | 1,308 kWh | $200 |
| May | 4.70 m/s | 896 kWh | $137 |
| June | 4.21 m/s | 629 kWh | $96 |
| July | 4.08 m/s | 591 kWh | $91 |
| August | 4.04 m/s | 575 kWh | $88 |
| September | 4.78 m/s | 911 kWh | $140 |
| October | 5.33 m/s | 1,256 kWh | $192 |
| November | 5.82 m/s | 1,508 kWh | $231 |
| December | 6.11 m/s | 1,745 kWh | $267 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Bay County averages 4.42 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.63 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.150, typical of very open, smooth ground where height adds little. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 11,913 to 16,980 kWh a year, 43% 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 | 4.91 m/s | 11,913 kWh | 55 years |
| 30 m | 5.21 m/s | 14,009 kWh | 47 years |
| 40 m | 5.44 m/s | 15,639 kWh | 42 years |
| 50 m | 5.63 m/s | 16,980 kWh | 38 years |
Counties around Bay County
None of the 6 closest counties is windier than Bay County.
- Calhoun County, FL: 3.33 m/s, 3,684 kWh, payback over 100 years (26 mi)
- Gulf County, FL: 3.94 m/s, 6,280 kWh, payback over 100 years (26 mi)
- Washington County, FL: 4.33 m/s, 8,346 kWh, payback 78 years (31 mi)
- Liberty County, FL: 3.33 m/s, 3,684 kWh, payback over 100 years (40 mi)
- Walton County, FL: 4.38 m/s, 8,632 kWh, payback 76 years (47 mi)
- Jackson County, FL: 4.4 m/s, 8,748 kWh, payback 75 years (48 mi)
Sun versus wind in Bay County
Bay County gets 4.8 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,402 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,398. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.0 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.