Wind Turbine Payback in Canyon County, ID
Wind turbine payback in Canyon 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 Canyon County, ID averages 4.3 m/s (9.6 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 8,176 kWh a year, worth $1,065 at ID's 13.02¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 94 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Canyon County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Canyon County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.7 m/s at the hub against 4.3 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,332 kWh a year here against the turbine's 818, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 61¢/kWh, 4.7 times what ID pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.7 m/s instead of 4.3. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of ID
Canyon County is the 1,894th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in ID is Owyhee County at 5.38 m/s, payback 51 years.
Month by month in Canyon County
March is the strongest month here, at 4.84 m/s and about 975 kWh. September is the weakest, 3.82 m/s and 470 kWh, so the best month makes 2.1 times the worst. November to March brings in 50% of the year's output in Canyon County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.32 m/s | 704 kWh | $92 |
| February | 4.65 m/s | 785 kWh | $102 |
| March | 4.84 m/s | 975 kWh | $127 |
| April | 4.66 m/s | 846 kWh | $110 |
| May | 4.20 m/s | 649 kWh | $84 |
| June | 4.06 m/s | 567 kWh | $74 |
| July | 3.81 m/s | 483 kWh | $63 |
| August | 3.79 m/s | 472 kWh | $61 |
| September | 3.82 m/s | 470 kWh | $61 |
| October | 4.26 m/s | 674 kWh | $88 |
| November | 4.51 m/s | 774 kWh | $101 |
| December | 4.65 m/s | 869 kWh | $113 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Canyon County averages 3.31 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.86 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 6,105 to 11,603 kWh a year, 90% 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 | 3.9 m/s | 6,105 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 4.3 m/s | 8,184 kWh | 94 years |
| 40 m | 4.61 m/s | 9,994 kWh | 77 years |
| 50 m | 4.86 m/s | 11,603 kWh | 66 years |
Counties around Canyon County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Malheur County, averages 4.65 m/s.
- Payette County, ID: 3.86 m/s, 5,894 kWh, payback over 100 years (26 mi)
- Ada County, ID: 4.17 m/s, 7,461 kWh, payback over 100 years (26 mi)
- Gem County, ID: 3.76 m/s, 5,432 kWh, payback over 100 years (34 mi)
- Malheur County, OR: 4.65 m/s, 10,257 kWh, payback 63 years (54 mi)
- Boise County, ID: 2.86 m/s, 2,205 kWh, payback over 100 years (55 mi)
- Washington County, ID: 3.6 m/s, 4,736 kWh, payback over 100 years (57 mi)
Sun versus wind in Canyon County
Canyon County 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 818. 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.