Wind Turbine Payback in Bent County, CO
Wind turbine payback in Bent 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 Bent County, CO averages 5.75 m/s (12.9 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 17,859 kWh a year, worth $3,000 at CO's 16.8¢/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 Bent County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Bent County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.4 m/s at the hub against 5.75 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,513 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,786, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 28¢/kWh, 1.7 times what CO pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.4 m/s instead of 5.75. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of CO
Bent County is the 1,110th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in CO is Baca County at 6.65 m/s, payback 24 years.
Month by month in Bent County
April is the strongest month here, at 6.59 m/s and about 1,977 kWh. August is the weakest, 5.24 m/s and 1,203 kWh, so the best month makes 1.6 times the worst. November to March brings in 41% of the year's output in Bent County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.39 m/s | 1,294 kWh | $217 |
| February | 5.72 m/s | 1,353 kWh | $227 |
| March | 6.13 m/s | 1,756 kWh | $295 |
| April | 6.59 m/s | 1,977 kWh | $332 |
| May | 5.99 m/s | 1,666 kWh | $280 |
| June | 5.92 m/s | 1,569 kWh | $264 |
| July | 5.33 m/s | 1,256 kWh | $211 |
| August | 5.24 m/s | 1,203 kWh | $202 |
| September | 5.77 m/s | 1,482 kWh | $249 |
| October | 5.68 m/s | 1,475 kWh | $248 |
| November | 5.71 m/s | 1,444 kWh | $243 |
| December | 5.56 m/s | 1,398 kWh | $235 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Bent County averages 4.53 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.42 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.217, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 14,343 to 22,817 kWh a year, 59% 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 | 5.26 m/s | 14,343 kWh | 42 years |
| 30 m | 5.75 m/s | 17,832 kWh | 33 years |
| 40 m | 6.12 m/s | 20,568 kWh | 29 years |
| 50 m | 6.42 m/s | 22,817 kWh | 26 years |
Counties around Bent County
4 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Baca County, averages 6.65 m/s.
- Otero County, CO: 5.33 m/s, 14,821 kWh, payback 40 years (35 mi)
- Kiowa County, CO: 5.95 m/s, 19,334 kWh, payback 31 years (36 mi)
- Prowers County, CO: 6.15 m/s, 20,816 kWh, payback 29 years (37 mi)
- Crowley County, CO: 5.2 m/s, 13,907 kWh, payback 43 years (46 mi)
- Baca County, CO: 6.65 m/s, 24,509 kWh, payback 24 years (52 mi)
- Cheyenne County, CO: 6.14 m/s, 20,742 kWh, payback 29 years (68 mi)
Sun versus wind in Bent County
Bent County gets 5.18 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,513 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,786. 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.