Wind Turbine Payback in Brevard County, FL
Wind turbine payback in Brevard 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 Brevard County, FL averages 5.62 m/s (12.6 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 16,907 kWh a year, worth $2,590 at FL's 15.32¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 39 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Brevard County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Brevard County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.8 m/s at the hub against 5.62 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,422 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,691, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 30¢/kWh, 1.9 times what FL pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.8 m/s instead of 5.62. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of FL
Brevard County is the 1,155th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. It is the windiest county in FL.
Month by month in Brevard County
January is the strongest month here, at 6.46 m/s and about 1,961 kWh. July is the weakest, 4.09 m/s and 596 kWh, so the best month makes 3.3 times the worst. November to March brings in 53% of the year's output in Brevard County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.46 m/s | 1,961 kWh | $300 |
| February | 6.15 m/s | 1,596 kWh | $245 |
| March | 6.34 m/s | 1,885 kWh | $289 |
| April | 6.10 m/s | 1,681 kWh | $258 |
| May | 5.59 m/s | 1,415 kWh | $217 |
| June | 4.56 m/s | 799 kWh | $122 |
| July | 4.09 m/s | 596 kWh | $91 |
| August | 4.37 m/s | 727 kWh | $111 |
| September | 5.28 m/s | 1,187 kWh | $182 |
| October | 5.94 m/s | 1,637 kWh | $251 |
| November | 6.35 m/s | 1,835 kWh | $281 |
| December | 6.29 m/s | 1,855 kWh | $284 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Brevard County averages 4.89 m/s; at 50 m it is 6 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.127, typical of very open, smooth ground where height adds little. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 14,898 to 19,704 kWh a year, 32% 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 | 5.34 m/s | 14,898 kWh | 44 years |
| 30 m | 5.62 m/s | 16,930 kWh | 39 years |
| 40 m | 5.83 m/s | 18,465 kWh | 35 years |
| 50 m | 6 m/s | 19,704 kWh | 33 years |
Counties around Brevard County
None of the 6 closest counties is windier than Brevard County.
- Osceola County, FL: 4.57 m/s, 9,763 kWh, payback 67 years (31 mi)
- Seminole County, FL: 4.65 m/s, 10,257 kWh, payback 64 years (38 mi)
- Orange County, FL: 4.65 m/s, 10,257 kWh, payback 64 years (41 mi)
- Indian River County, FL: 4.78 m/s, 11,082 kWh, payback 59 years (42 mi)
- Volusia County, FL: 4.38 m/s, 8,632 kWh, payback 76 years (59 mi)
- Okeechobee County, FL: 4.78 m/s, 11,082 kWh, payback 59 years (64 mi)
Sun versus wind in Brevard County
Brevard County gets 4.87 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,422 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,691. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.2 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.