Wind Turbine Payback in Bienville Parish, LA
Wind turbine payback in Bienville Parish
No. The turbine wears out before it pays for itself.
At 30 m, the height a home turbine tower usually reaches, the wind in Bienville Parish, LA averages 3.16 m/s (7.1 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 3,099 kWh a year, worth $411 at LA's 13.27¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of over 100 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Bienville Parish
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Bienville Parish unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.6 m/s at the hub against 3.16 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,332 kWh a year here against the turbine's 310, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 161¢/kWh, 12.2 times what LA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.6 m/s instead of 3.16. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of LA
Bienville Parish is the 2,928th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in LA is Iberia Parish at 5.86 m/s, payback 40 years.
Month by month in Bienville Parish
April is the strongest month here, at 3.65 m/s and about 407 kWh. July is the weakest, 2.56 m/s and 126 kWh, so the best month makes 3.2 times the worst. November to March brings in 51% of the year's output in Bienville Parish.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.36 m/s | 323 kWh | $43 |
| February | 3.45 m/s | 317 kWh | $42 |
| March | 3.57 m/s | 393 kWh | $52 |
| April | 3.65 m/s | 407 kWh | $54 |
| May | 3.22 m/s | 281 kWh | $37 |
| June | 2.81 m/s | 169 kWh | $22 |
| July | 2.56 m/s | 126 kWh | $17 |
| August | 2.61 m/s | 135 kWh | $18 |
| September | 2.89 m/s | 188 kWh | $25 |
| October | 3.15 m/s | 261 kWh | $35 |
| November | 3.35 m/s | 310 kWh | $41 |
| December | 3.33 m/s | 313 kWh | $42 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Bienville Parish averages 1.87 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.03 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.477, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 1,572 to 6,729 kWh a year, 328% 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 | 2.6 m/s | 1,572 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.16 m/s | 3,094 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 3.62 m/s | 4,833 kWh | over 100 years |
| 50 m | 4.03 m/s | 6,729 kWh | over 100 years |
Counties around Bienville Parish
5 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Jackson Parish, averages 3.26 m/s.
- Red River Parish, LA: 3.21 m/s, 3,265 kWh, payback over 100 years (24 mi)
- Jackson Parish, LA: 3.26 m/s, 3,436 kWh, payback over 100 years (28 mi)
- Lincoln Parish, LA: 3.26 m/s, 3,436 kWh, payback over 100 years (29 mi)
- Webster Parish, LA: 3.16 m/s, 3,099 kWh, payback over 100 years (32 mi)
- Claiborne Parish, LA: 3.19 m/s, 3,198 kWh, payback over 100 years (34 mi)
- Winn Parish, LA: 3.19 m/s, 3,198 kWh, payback over 100 years (36 mi)
Sun versus wind in Bienville Parish
Bienville Parish gets 4.56 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,332 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 310. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 4.3 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.