Wind Turbine Payback in Campbell County, WY
Wind turbine payback in Campbell 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 Campbell County, WY averages 6.03 m/s (13.5 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 19,926 kWh a year, worth $2,792 at WY's 14.01¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 36 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Campbell County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Campbell County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.3 m/s at the hub against 6.03 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,253 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,993, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 25¢/kWh, 1.8 times what WY pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.3 m/s instead of 6.03. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of WY
Campbell County is the 791st windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in WY is Albany County at 7.32 m/s, payback 24 years.
Month by month in Campbell County
January is the strongest month here, at 6.80 m/s and about 2,172 kWh. July is the weakest, 5.14 m/s and 1,143 kWh, so the best month makes 1.9 times the worst. November to March brings in 49% of the year's output in Campbell County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.80 m/s | 2,172 kWh | $304 |
| February | 6.38 m/s | 1,730 kWh | $242 |
| March | 6.33 m/s | 1,881 kWh | $264 |
| April | 6.16 m/s | 1,716 kWh | $240 |
| May | 5.81 m/s | 1,554 kWh | $218 |
| June | 5.40 m/s | 1,257 kWh | $176 |
| July | 5.14 m/s | 1,143 kWh | $160 |
| August | 5.24 m/s | 1,207 kWh | $169 |
| September | 5.65 m/s | 1,406 kWh | $197 |
| October | 6.24 m/s | 1,825 kWh | $256 |
| November | 6.47 m/s | 1,908 kWh | $267 |
| December | 6.69 m/s | 2,106 kWh | $295 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Campbell County averages 4.78 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.71 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.211, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 16,257 to 24,947 kWh a year, 53% 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 | 5.53 m/s | 16,257 kWh | 44 years |
| 30 m | 6.02 m/s | 19,885 kWh | 36 years |
| 40 m | 6.4 m/s | 22,679 kWh | 32 years |
| 50 m | 6.71 m/s | 24,947 kWh | 29 years |
Counties around Campbell County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Converse County, averages 6.97 m/s.
- Weston County, WY: 5.46 m/s, 15,749 kWh, payback 45 years (53 mi)
- Johnson County, WY: 4.98 m/s, 12,400 kWh, payback 58 years (54 mi)
- Crook County, WY: 5.61 m/s, 16,834 kWh, payback 42 years (54 mi)
- Sheridan County, WY: 5.63 m/s, 16,980 kWh, payback 42 years (79 mi)
- Converse County, WY: 6.97 m/s, 26,828 kWh, payback 27 years (83 mi)
- Powder River County, MT: 6.12 m/s, 20,594 kWh, payback 34 years (84 mi)
Sun versus wind in Campbell County
Campbell County gets 4.29 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,253 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,993. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.6 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.