Wind Turbine Payback in Bell County, TX
Wind turbine payback in Bell 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 Bell County, TX averages 5.61 m/s (12.5 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 16,834 kWh a year, worth $2,699 at TX's 16.03¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 37 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Bell County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Bell County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.6 m/s at the hub against 5.61 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,405 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,683, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 30¢/kWh, 1.9 times what TX pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.6 m/s instead of 5.61. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of TX
Bell County is the 1,161st 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 Bell County
April is the strongest month here, at 6.42 m/s and about 1,875 kWh. September is the weakest, 4.56 m/s and 798 kWh, so the best month makes 2.3 times the worst. November to March brings in 49% of the year's output in Bell County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.00 m/s | 1,676 kWh | $269 |
| February | 6.21 m/s | 1,630 kWh | $261 |
| March | 6.30 m/s | 1,866 kWh | $299 |
| April | 6.42 m/s | 1,875 kWh | $301 |
| May | 5.88 m/s | 1,598 kWh | $256 |
| June | 5.28 m/s | 1,188 kWh | $190 |
| July | 4.89 m/s | 1,001 kWh | $160 |
| August | 4.65 m/s | 871 kWh | $140 |
| September | 4.56 m/s | 798 kWh | $128 |
| October | 5.40 m/s | 1,302 kWh | $209 |
| November | 5.85 m/s | 1,530 kWh | $245 |
| December | 5.95 m/s | 1,643 kWh | $263 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Bell County averages 4.32 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.34 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.238, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 13,200 to 22,225 kWh a year, 68% 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 | 5.1 m/s | 13,200 kWh | 47 years |
| 30 m | 5.61 m/s | 16,865 kWh | 37 years |
| 40 m | 6.01 m/s | 19,794 kWh | 32 years |
| 50 m | 6.34 m/s | 22,225 kWh | 28 years |
Counties around Bell County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Burnet County, averages 5.75 m/s.
- Williamson County, TX: 5.52 m/s, 16,181 kWh, payback 39 years (28 mi)
- Coryell County, TX: 5.69 m/s, 17,419 kWh, payback 36 years (30 mi)
- Milam County, TX: 5.43 m/s, 15,534 kWh, payback 40 years (34 mi)
- Falls County, TX: 5.52 m/s, 16,181 kWh, payback 39 years (35 mi)
- McLennan County, TX: 5.69 m/s, 17,419 kWh, payback 36 years (39 mi)
- Burnet County, TX: 5.75 m/s, 17,859 kWh, payback 35 years (46 mi)
Sun versus wind in Bell County
Bell 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 1,683. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.2 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.