Wind Turbine Payback in Bossier Parish, LA
Wind turbine payback in Bossier 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 Bossier Parish, LA averages 3.49 m/s (7.8 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 4,289 kWh a year, worth $569 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 Bossier Parish
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Bossier Parish unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.6 m/s at the hub against 3.49 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,332 kWh a year here against the turbine's 429, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 117¢/kWh, 8.8 times what LA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.6 m/s instead of 3.49. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of LA
Bossier Parish is the 2,519th 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 Bossier Parish
April is the strongest month here, at 4.03 m/s and about 553 kWh. July is the weakest, 2.81 m/s and 176 kWh, so the best month makes 3.1 times the worst. November to March brings in 51% of the year's output in Bossier Parish.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.72 m/s | 446 kWh | $59 |
| February | 3.82 m/s | 440 kWh | $58 |
| March | 3.96 m/s | 540 kWh | $72 |
| April | 4.03 m/s | 553 kWh | $73 |
| May | 3.58 m/s | 395 kWh | $52 |
| June | 3.09 m/s | 236 kWh | $31 |
| July | 2.81 m/s | 176 kWh | $23 |
| August | 2.86 m/s | 187 kWh | $25 |
| September | 3.16 m/s | 255 kWh | $34 |
| October | 3.47 m/s | 356 kWh | $47 |
| November | 3.70 m/s | 425 kWh | $56 |
| December | 3.67 m/s | 427 kWh | $57 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Bossier Parish averages 2.26 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.27 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.395, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 2,523 to 8,008 kWh a year, 217% 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 | 2.97 m/s | 2,523 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.49 m/s | 4,288 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 3.91 m/s | 6,132 kWh | over 100 years |
| 50 m | 4.27 m/s | 8,008 kWh | 94 years |
Counties around Bossier Parish
None of the 6 closest counties is windier than Bossier Parish.
- Webster Parish, LA: 3.16 m/s, 3,099 kWh, payback over 100 years (17 mi)
- Caddo Parish, LA: 3.49 m/s, 4,289 kWh, payback over 100 years (17 mi)
- Lafayette County, AR: 3.39 m/s, 3,905 kWh, payback over 100 years (37 mi)
- Claiborne Parish, LA: 3.19 m/s, 3,198 kWh, payback over 100 years (38 mi)
- Bienville Parish, LA: 3.16 m/s, 3,099 kWh, payback over 100 years (42 mi)
- Columbia County, AR: 3.19 m/s, 3,198 kWh, payback over 100 years (43 mi)
Sun versus wind in Bossier Parish
Bossier 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 429. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 3.1 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.