Wind Turbine Payback in Cherokee County, KS
Wind turbine payback in Cherokee 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 Cherokee County, KS averages 5.88 m/s (13.2 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 18,816 kWh a year, worth $2,871 at KS's 15.26¢/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 Cherokee County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Cherokee County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.8 m/s at the hub against 5.88 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,279 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,882, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 27¢/kWh, 1.7 times what KS pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.8 m/s instead of 5.88. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of KS
Cherokee County is the 1,013th 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 Cherokee County
April is the strongest month here, at 6.92 m/s and about 2,177 kWh. July is the weakest, 4.67 m/s and 879 kWh, so the best month makes 2.5 times the worst. November to March brings in 49% of the year's output in Cherokee County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.18 m/s | 1,788 kWh | $273 |
| February | 6.37 m/s | 1,720 kWh | $262 |
| March | 6.68 m/s | 2,098 kWh | $320 |
| April | 6.92 m/s | 2,177 kWh | $332 |
| May | 5.96 m/s | 1,649 kWh | $252 |
| June | 5.49 m/s | 1,310 kWh | $200 |
| July | 4.67 m/s | 879 kWh | $134 |
| August | 4.67 m/s | 884 kWh | $135 |
| September | 5.13 m/s | 1,105 kWh | $169 |
| October | 6.03 m/s | 1,694 kWh | $259 |
| November | 6.41 m/s | 1,870 kWh | $285 |
| December | 6.12 m/s | 1,749 kWh | $267 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Cherokee County averages 4.49 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.67 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.246, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 14,778 to 24,655 kWh a year, 67% 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 | 14,778 kWh | 44 years |
| 30 m | 5.88 m/s | 18,834 kWh | 35 years |
| 40 m | 6.31 m/s | 22,030 kWh | 30 years |
| 50 m | 6.67 m/s | 24,655 kWh | 27 years |
Counties around Cherokee County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Crawford County, averages 5.98 m/s.
- Ottawa County, OK: 5.88 m/s, 18,816 kWh, payback 39 years (23 mi)
- Crawford County, KS: 5.98 m/s, 19,556 kWh, payback 34 years (23 mi)
- Labette County, KS: 5.88 m/s, 18,816 kWh, payback 35 years (25 mi)
- Jasper County, MO: 5.78 m/s, 18,079 kWh, payback 39 years (28 mi)
- Newton County, MO: 5.78 m/s, 18,079 kWh, payback 39 years (33 mi)
- Craig County, OK: 5.88 m/s, 18,816 kWh, payback 39 years (34 mi)
Sun versus wind in Cherokee County
Cherokee County gets 4.38 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,279 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,882. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.5 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.