Wind Turbine Payback in Chautauqua County, KS
Wind turbine payback in Chautauqua 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 Chautauqua County, KS averages 6.17 m/s (13.8 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 20,965 kWh a year, worth $3,199 at KS's 15.26¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 31 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Chautauqua County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Chautauqua County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.8 m/s at the hub against 6.17 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,314 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,097, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 24¢/kWh, 1.6 times what KS pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.8 m/s instead of 6.17. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of KS
Chautauqua County is the 608th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in KS is Edwards County at 6.68 m/s, payback 27 years.
Month by month in Chautauqua County
April is the strongest month here, at 7.24 m/s and about 2,360 kWh. August is the weakest, 5.00 m/s and 1,064 kWh, so the best month makes 2.2 times the worst. November to March brings in 47% of the year's output in Chautauqua County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.35 m/s | 1,892 kWh | $289 |
| February | 6.46 m/s | 1,775 kWh | $271 |
| March | 6.92 m/s | 2,251 kWh | $344 |
| April | 7.24 m/s | 2,360 kWh | $360 |
| May | 6.28 m/s | 1,848 kWh | $282 |
| June | 5.94 m/s | 1,583 kWh | $242 |
| July | 5.07 m/s | 1,105 kWh | $169 |
| August | 5.00 m/s | 1,064 kWh | $162 |
| September | 5.52 m/s | 1,331 kWh | $203 |
| October | 6.37 m/s | 1,904 kWh | $291 |
| November | 6.63 m/s | 2,003 kWh | $306 |
| December | 6.29 m/s | 1,859 kWh | $284 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Chautauqua County averages 4.78 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.95 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.233, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 16,863 to 26,685 kWh a year, 58% 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 | 5.61 m/s | 16,863 kWh | 39 years |
| 30 m | 6.17 m/s | 20,966 kWh | 31 years |
| 40 m | 6.6 m/s | 24,127 kWh | 27 years |
| 50 m | 6.95 m/s | 26,685 kWh | 25 years |
Counties around Chautauqua County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Cowley County, averages 6.29 m/s.
- Elk County, KS: 6.26 m/s, 21,632 kWh, payback 30 years (21 mi)
- Montgomery County, KS: 6.03 m/s, 19,926 kWh, payback 33 years (28 mi)
- Cowley County, KS: 6.29 m/s, 21,855 kWh, payback 30 years (33 mi)
- Washington County, OK: 5.9 m/s, 18,964 kWh, payback 38 years (36 mi)
- Osage County, OK: 6.16 m/s, 20,891 kWh, payback 35 years (38 mi)
- Wilson County, KS: 6.09 m/s, 20,371 kWh, payback 32 years (39 mi)
Sun versus wind in Chautauqua County
Chautauqua County gets 4.5 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,314 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,097. 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.