Wind Turbine Payback in Box Butte County, NE
Wind turbine payback in Box Butte 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 Box Butte County, NE averages 6.38 m/s (14.3 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 22,521 kWh a year, worth $2,910 at NE's 12.92¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 34 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Box Butte County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Box Butte County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.8 m/s at the hub against 6.38 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,317 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,252, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 22¢/kWh, 1.7 times what NE pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.8 m/s instead of 6.38. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of NE
Box Butte County is the 359th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in NE is Cherry County at 6.83 m/s, payback 30 years.
Month by month in Box Butte County
January is the strongest month here, at 7.14 m/s and about 2,383 kWh. July is the weakest, 5.37 m/s and 1,280 kWh, so the best month makes 1.9 times the worst. November to March brings in 49% of the year's output in Box Butte County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.14 m/s | 2,383 kWh | $308 |
| February | 6.89 m/s | 2,015 kWh | $260 |
| March | 6.84 m/s | 2,198 kWh | $284 |
| April | 6.82 m/s | 2,117 kWh | $274 |
| May | 6.15 m/s | 1,769 kWh | $229 |
| June | 5.75 m/s | 1,468 kWh | $190 |
| July | 5.37 m/s | 1,280 kWh | $165 |
| August | 5.41 m/s | 1,307 kWh | $169 |
| September | 5.90 m/s | 1,560 kWh | $202 |
| October | 6.55 m/s | 2,021 kWh | $261 |
| November | 6.83 m/s | 2,122 kWh | $274 |
| December | 7.02 m/s | 2,307 kWh | $298 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Box Butte County averages 5 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.15 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.222, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 18,476 to 28,109 kWh a year, 52% 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 | 5.83 m/s | 18,476 kWh | 42 years |
| 30 m | 6.38 m/s | 22,547 kWh | 34 years |
| 40 m | 6.8 m/s | 25,634 kWh | 30 years |
| 50 m | 7.15 m/s | 28,109 kWh | 28 years |
Counties around Box Butte County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Sheridan County, averages 6.61 m/s.
- Morrill County, NE: 6.33 m/s, 22,151 kWh, payback 35 years (33 mi)
- Dawes County, NE: 6.59 m/s, 24,069 kWh, payback 32 years (35 mi)
- Sioux County, NE: 6.51 m/s, 23,481 kWh, payback 33 years (38 mi)
- Scotts Bluff County, NE: 6.25 m/s, 21,558 kWh, payback 36 years (40 mi)
- Sheridan County, NE: 6.61 m/s, 24,216 kWh, payback 32 years (42 mi)
- Garden County, NE: 6.34 m/s, 22,225 kWh, payback 35 years (57 mi)
Sun versus wind in Box Butte County
Box Butte County gets 4.51 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,317 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,252. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.7 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.