Wind Turbine Payback in Caldwell Parish, LA
Wind turbine payback in Caldwell Parish
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 Parish, LA averages 4.29 m/s (9.6 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 8,120 kWh a year, worth $1,078 at LA's 13.27¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 93 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Caldwell Parish
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Caldwell Parish unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.6 m/s at the hub against 4.29 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,332 kWh a year here against the turbine's 812, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 62¢/kWh, 4.6 times what LA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.6 m/s instead of 4.29. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of LA
Caldwell Parish is the 1,900th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in LA is Iberia Parish at 5.86 m/s, payback 40 years.
Month by month in Caldwell Parish
March is the strongest month here, at 4.93 m/s and about 1,025 kWh. July is the weakest, 3.34 m/s and 315 kWh, so the best month makes 3.3 times the worst. November to March brings in 53% of the year's output in Caldwell Parish.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.71 m/s | 903 kWh | $120 |
| February | 4.90 m/s | 909 kWh | $121 |
| March | 4.93 m/s | 1,025 kWh | $136 |
| April | 4.97 m/s | 1,016 kWh | $135 |
| May | 4.32 m/s | 702 kWh | $93 |
| June | 3.73 m/s | 435 kWh | $58 |
| July | 3.34 m/s | 315 kWh | $42 |
| August | 3.45 m/s | 350 kWh | $46 |
| September | 3.87 m/s | 490 kWh | $65 |
| October | 4.19 m/s | 642 kWh | $85 |
| November | 4.53 m/s | 782 kWh | $104 |
| December | 4.65 m/s | 871 kWh | $116 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Caldwell Parish averages 3.05 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.03 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.311, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 5,535 to 12,737 kWh a year, 130% 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 | 3.78 m/s | 5,535 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 4.29 m/s | 8,126 kWh | 93 years |
| 40 m | 4.69 m/s | 10,526 kWh | 72 years |
| 50 m | 5.03 m/s | 12,737 kWh | 59 years |
Counties around Caldwell Parish
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Ouachita Parish, averages 4.65 m/s.
- Franklin Parish, LA: 4.29 m/s, 8,120 kWh, payback 93 years (26 mi)
- Ouachita Parish, LA: 4.65 m/s, 10,257 kWh, payback 74 years (26 mi)
- LaSalle Parish, LA: 4.14 m/s, 7,301 kWh, payback over 100 years (29 mi)
- Jackson Parish, LA: 3.26 m/s, 3,436 kWh, payback over 100 years (30 mi)
- Richland Parish, LA: 4.65 m/s, 10,257 kWh, payback 74 years (30 mi)
- Winn Parish, LA: 3.19 m/s, 3,198 kWh, payback over 100 years (33 mi)
Sun versus wind in Caldwell Parish
Caldwell Parish gets 4.56 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,332 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 812. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.6 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.