Wind Turbine Payback in Brazos County, TX
Wind turbine payback in Brazos 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 Brazos County, TX averages 4.94 m/s (11.1 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 12,132 kWh a year, worth $1,945 at TX's 16.03¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 51 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Brazos County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Brazos County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.6 m/s at the hub against 4.94 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,384 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,213, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 41¢/kWh, 2.6 times what TX pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.6 m/s instead of 4.94. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of TX
Brazos County is the 1,482nd windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in TX is Dallam County at 6.82 m/s, payback 24 years.
Month by month in Brazos County
March is the strongest month here, at 5.60 m/s and about 1,421 kWh. August is the weakest, 3.97 m/s and 547 kWh, so the best month makes 2.6 times the worst. November to March brings in 52% of the year's output in Brazos County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.36 m/s | 1,277 kWh | $205 |
| February | 5.55 m/s | 1,259 kWh | $202 |
| March | 5.60 m/s | 1,421 kWh | $228 |
| April | 5.65 m/s | 1,406 kWh | $225 |
| May | 5.19 m/s | 1,178 kWh | $189 |
| June | 4.44 m/s | 740 kWh | $119 |
| July | 4.12 m/s | 611 kWh | $98 |
| August | 3.97 m/s | 547 kWh | $88 |
| September | 4.09 m/s | 576 kWh | $92 |
| October | 4.78 m/s | 939 kWh | $151 |
| November | 5.21 m/s | 1,150 kWh | $184 |
| December | 5.33 m/s | 1,261 kWh | $202 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Brazos County averages 3.69 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.66 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.266, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 8,957 to 17,199 kWh a year, 92% 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 | 4.44 m/s | 8,957 kWh | 70 years |
| 30 m | 4.94 m/s | 12,138 kWh | 51 years |
| 40 m | 5.33 m/s | 14,848 kWh | 42 years |
| 50 m | 5.66 m/s | 17,199 kWh | 36 years |
Counties around Brazos County
4 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Milam County, averages 5.43 m/s.
- Grimes County, TX: 4.94 m/s, 12,132 kWh, payback 51 years (20 mi)
- Burleson County, TX: 5.41 m/s, 15,390 kWh, payback 41 years (22 mi)
- Robertson County, TX: 5.27 m/s, 14,397 kWh, payback 43 years (28 mi)
- Madison County, TX: 4.35 m/s, 8,460 kWh, payback 74 years (31 mi)
- Washington County, TX: 5.09 m/s, 13,146 kWh, payback 48 years (31 mi)
- Milam County, TX: 5.43 m/s, 15,534 kWh, payback 40 years (42 mi)
Sun versus wind in Brazos County
Brazos County gets 4.74 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,384 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,213. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.1 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.