Wind Turbine Payback in Bingham County, ID
Wind turbine payback in Bingham 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 Bingham County, ID averages 4.82 m/s (10.8 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 11,341 kWh a year, worth $1,477 at ID's 13.02¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 68 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Bingham County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Bingham County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.7 m/s at the hub against 4.82 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,329 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,134, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 44¢/kWh, 3.4 times what ID pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.7 m/s instead of 4.82. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of ID
Bingham County is the 1,546th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in ID is Owyhee County at 5.38 m/s, payback 51 years.
Month by month in Bingham County
March is the strongest month here, at 5.48 m/s and about 1,348 kWh. August is the weakest, 4.31 m/s and 701 kWh, so the best month makes 1.9 times the worst. November to March brings in 47% of the year's output in Bingham County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.81 m/s | 956 kWh | $124 |
| February | 5.13 m/s | 1,029 kWh | $134 |
| March | 5.48 m/s | 1,348 kWh | $176 |
| April | 5.17 m/s | 1,128 kWh | $147 |
| May | 4.66 m/s | 878 kWh | $114 |
| June | 4.79 m/s | 915 kWh | $119 |
| July | 4.33 m/s | 710 kWh | $92 |
| August | 4.31 m/s | 701 kWh | $91 |
| September | 4.45 m/s | 742 kWh | $97 |
| October | 4.80 m/s | 951 kWh | $124 |
| November | 5.00 m/s | 1,032 kWh | $134 |
| December | 4.94 m/s | 1,031 kWh | $134 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Bingham County averages 3.8 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.39 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 8,854 to 15,247 kWh a year, 72% 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 | 4.42 m/s | 8,854 kWh | 87 years |
| 30 m | 4.82 m/s | 11,370 kWh | 68 years |
| 40 m | 5.14 m/s | 13,457 kWh | 57 years |
| 50 m | 5.39 m/s | 15,247 kWh | 50 years |
Counties around Bingham County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Bonneville County, averages 5.09 m/s.
- Bannock County, ID: 4.31 m/s, 8,233 kWh, payback 93 years (37 mi)
- Jefferson County, ID: 3.91 m/s, 6,134 kWh, payback over 100 years (40 mi)
- Bonneville County, ID: 5.09 m/s, 13,146 kWh, payback 58 years (41 mi)
- Power County, ID: 4.79 m/s, 11,147 kWh, payback 69 years (43 mi)
- Butte County, ID: 4.32 m/s, 8,289 kWh, payback 93 years (51 mi)
- Caribou County, ID: 3.51 m/s, 4,368 kWh, payback over 100 years (52 mi)
Sun versus wind in Bingham County
Bingham County gets 4.55 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,329 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,134. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.2 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.