Wind Turbine Payback in Calhoun County, TX
Wind turbine payback in Calhoun 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 Calhoun County, TX averages 5.79 m/s (13 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 18,153 kWh a year, worth $2,910 at TX's 16.03¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 34 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Calhoun County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Calhoun County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.6 m/s at the hub against 5.79 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,419 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,815, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 28¢/kWh, 1.7 times what TX pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.6 m/s instead of 5.79. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of TX
Calhoun County is the 1,080th 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 Calhoun County
April is the strongest month here, at 6.56 m/s and about 1,963 kWh. August is the weakest, 4.79 m/s and 948 kWh, so the best month makes 2.1 times the worst. November to March brings in 47% of the year's output in Calhoun County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.14 m/s | 1,763 kWh | $283 |
| February | 6.29 m/s | 1,674 kWh | $268 |
| March | 6.37 m/s | 1,904 kWh | $305 |
| April | 6.56 m/s | 1,963 kWh | $315 |
| May | 6.28 m/s | 1,848 kWh | $296 |
| June | 5.49 m/s | 1,315 kWh | $211 |
| July | 5.20 m/s | 1,180 kWh | $189 |
| August | 4.79 m/s | 948 kWh | $152 |
| September | 4.98 m/s | 1,020 kWh | $164 |
| October | 5.52 m/s | 1,375 kWh | $220 |
| November | 5.84 m/s | 1,520 kWh | $244 |
| December | 6.03 m/s | 1,695 kWh | $272 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Calhoun County averages 4.61 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.44 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.208, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 14,767 to 22,964 kWh a year, 56% 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 | 5.32 m/s | 14,767 kWh | 42 years |
| 30 m | 5.79 m/s | 18,159 kWh | 34 years |
| 40 m | 6.15 m/s | 20,801 kWh | 30 years |
| 50 m | 6.44 m/s | 22,964 kWh | 27 years |
Counties around Calhoun County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Aransas County, averages 6.47 m/s.
- Aransas County, TX: 6.47 m/s, 23,186 kWh, payback 27 years (32 mi)
- Victoria County, TX: 5.42 m/s, 15,462 kWh, payback 40 years (34 mi)
- Jackson County, TX: 5.42 m/s, 15,462 kWh, payback 40 years (36 mi)
- Refugio County, TX: 5.79 m/s, 18,153 kWh, payback 34 years (36 mi)
- Matagorda County, TX: 5.4 m/s, 15,319 kWh, payback 41 years (42 mi)
- Goliad County, TX: 5.6 m/s, 16,762 kWh, payback 37 years (54 mi)
Sun versus wind in Calhoun County
Calhoun County gets 4.86 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,419 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,815. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.3 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.