Wind Turbine Payback in Brown County, WI
Wind turbine payback in Brown 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 Brown County, WI averages 6.34 m/s (14.2 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 22,225 kWh a year, worth $4,234 at WI's 19.05¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 24 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Brown County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Brown County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 6.9 m/s at the hub against 6.34 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,063 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,223, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 22¢/kWh, 1.2 times what WI pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 6.9 m/s instead of 6.34. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of WI
Brown County is the 420th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in WI is Manitowoc County at 7.32 m/s, payback 18 years.
Month by month in Brown County
January is the strongest month here, at 6.96 m/s and about 2,270 kWh. July is the weakest, 5.27 m/s and 1,223 kWh, so the best month makes 1.9 times the worst. November to March brings in 48% of the year's output in Brown County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.96 m/s | 2,270 kWh | $432 |
| February | 7.04 m/s | 2,095 kWh | $399 |
| March | 6.66 m/s | 2,087 kWh | $398 |
| April | 6.87 m/s | 2,149 kWh | $409 |
| May | 6.18 m/s | 1,788 kWh | $341 |
| June | 5.57 m/s | 1,359 kWh | $259 |
| July | 5.27 m/s | 1,223 kWh | $233 |
| August | 5.29 m/s | 1,234 kWh | $235 |
| September | 6.05 m/s | 1,653 kWh | $315 |
| October | 6.72 m/s | 2,126 kWh | $405 |
| November | 6.78 m/s | 2,090 kWh | $398 |
| December | 6.79 m/s | 2,171 kWh | $414 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Brown County averages 5.07 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.04 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.204, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 18,519 to 27,328 kWh a year, 48% 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 | 5.84 m/s | 18,519 kWh | 28 years |
| 30 m | 6.34 m/s | 22,249 kWh | 24 years |
| 40 m | 6.73 m/s | 25,069 kWh | 21 years |
| 50 m | 7.04 m/s | 27,328 kWh | 19 years |
Counties around Brown County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Manitowoc County, averages 7.32 m/s.
- Outagamie County, WI: 6.01 m/s, 19,778 kWh, payback 27 years (23 mi)
- Kewaunee County, WI: 7.28 m/s, 29,020 kWh, payback 18 years (28 mi)
- Calumet County, WI: 6.53 m/s, 23,628 kWh, payback 22 years (29 mi)
- Manitowoc County, WI: 7.32 m/s, 29,299 kWh, payback 18 years (30 mi)
- Oconto County, WI: 5.93 m/s, 19,186 kWh, payback 27 years (38 mi)
- Winnebago County, WI: 6.12 m/s, 20,594 kWh, payback 26 years (43 mi)
Sun versus wind in Brown County
Brown County gets 3.64 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,063 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,223. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 2.1 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.