Wind Turbine Payback in Chambers County, TX
Wind turbine payback in Chambers 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 Chambers County, TX averages 5.76 m/s (12.9 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 17,932 kWh a year, worth $2,875 at TX's 16.03¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 35 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Chambers County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Chambers County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.6 m/s at the hub against 5.76 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,381 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,793, 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 5.76. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of TX
Chambers County is the 1,103rd 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 Chambers County
December is the strongest month here, at 6.55 m/s and about 2,019 kWh. August is the weakest, 4.37 m/s and 728 kWh, so the best month makes 2.8 times the worst. November to March brings in 52% of the year's output in Chambers County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.48 m/s | 1,972 kWh | $316 |
| February | 6.59 m/s | 1,844 kWh | $296 |
| March | 6.38 m/s | 1,914 kWh | $307 |
| April | 6.50 m/s | 1,926 kWh | $309 |
| May | 5.98 m/s | 1,663 kWh | $267 |
| June | 5.04 m/s | 1,051 kWh | $168 |
| July | 4.50 m/s | 793 kWh | $127 |
| August | 4.37 m/s | 728 kWh | $117 |
| September | 5.05 m/s | 1,056 kWh | $169 |
| October | 5.66 m/s | 1,460 kWh | $234 |
| November | 6.09 m/s | 1,672 kWh | $268 |
| December | 6.55 m/s | 2,019 kWh | $324 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Chambers County averages 4.9 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.21 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.147, typical of very open, smooth ground where height adds little. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 15,515 to 21,262 kWh a year, 37% 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 | 5.43 m/s | 15,515 kWh | 40 years |
| 30 m | 5.76 m/s | 17,938 kWh | 35 years |
| 40 m | 6.01 m/s | 19,775 kWh | 32 years |
| 50 m | 6.21 m/s | 21,262 kWh | 29 years |
Counties around Chambers County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Galveston County, averages 6.01 m/s.
- Jefferson County, TX: 4.32 m/s, 8,289 kWh, payback 75 years (33 mi)
- Liberty County, TX: 4.35 m/s, 8,460 kWh, payback 74 years (34 mi)
- Galveston County, TX: 6.01 m/s, 19,778 kWh, payback 32 years (35 mi)
- Harris County, TX: 4.53 m/s, 9,519 kWh, payback 66 years (45 mi)
- Hardin County, TX: 3.14 m/s, 3,034 kWh, payback over 100 years (47 mi)
- Orange County, TX: 4.69 m/s, 10,508 kWh, payback 59 years (55 mi)
Sun versus wind in Chambers County
Chambers County gets 4.73 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,381 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,793. 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.