Wind Turbine Payback in Caldwell County, MO
Wind turbine payback in Caldwell 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 Caldwell County, MO averages 5.89 m/s (13.2 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 18,890 kWh a year, worth $2,698 at MO's 14.28¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 37 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Caldwell County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Caldwell County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.2 m/s at the hub against 5.89 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,226 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,889, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 26¢/kWh, 1.9 times what MO pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.2 m/s instead of 5.89. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of MO
Caldwell County is the 1,001st windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in MO is Atchison County at 6.17 m/s, payback 33 years.
Month by month in Caldwell County
April is the strongest month here, at 6.80 m/s and about 2,103 kWh. August is the weakest, 4.58 m/s and 832 kWh, so the best month makes 2.5 times the worst. November to March brings in 49% of the year's output in Caldwell County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.35 m/s | 1,891 kWh | $270 |
| February | 6.31 m/s | 1,688 kWh | $241 |
| March | 6.61 m/s | 2,058 kWh | $294 |
| April | 6.80 m/s | 2,103 kWh | $300 |
| May | 5.95 m/s | 1,641 kWh | $234 |
| June | 5.44 m/s | 1,285 kWh | $183 |
| July | 4.64 m/s | 865 kWh | $124 |
| August | 4.58 m/s | 832 kWh | $119 |
| September | 5.28 m/s | 1,191 kWh | $170 |
| October | 6.15 m/s | 1,769 kWh | $253 |
| November | 6.43 m/s | 1,884 kWh | $269 |
| December | 6.18 m/s | 1,785 kWh | $255 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Caldwell County averages 4.53 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.65 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.239, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 14,907 to 24,509 kWh a year, 64% 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 | 14,907 kWh | 47 years |
| 30 m | 5.89 m/s | 18,859 kWh | 37 years |
| 40 m | 6.3 m/s | 21,963 kWh | 32 years |
| 50 m | 6.65 m/s | 24,509 kWh | 29 years |
Counties around Caldwell County
4 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Clinton County, averages 5.99 m/s.
- Daviess County, MO: 5.91 m/s, 19,038 kWh, payback 37 years (21 mi)
- Clinton County, MO: 5.99 m/s, 19,630 kWh, payback 36 years (22 mi)
- Ray County, MO: 5.89 m/s, 18,890 kWh, payback 37 years (24 mi)
- Livingston County, MO: 5.91 m/s, 19,038 kWh, payback 37 years (24 mi)
- DeKalb County, MO: 5.99 m/s, 19,630 kWh, payback 36 years (28 mi)
- Carroll County, MO: 5.89 m/s, 18,890 kWh, payback 37 years (30 mi)
Sun versus wind in Caldwell County
Caldwell County gets 4.2 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,226 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,889. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.5 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.