Wind Turbine Payback in Cherokee County, OK
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, OK averages 4.28 m/s (9.6 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 8,064 kWh a year, worth $1,114 at OK's 13.81¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 90 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, 8.4 m/s at the hub against 4.28 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,296 kWh a year here against the turbine's 806, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 62¢/kWh, 4.5 times what OK pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.4 m/s instead of 4.28. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of OK
Cherokee County is the 1,903rd windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in OK is Cimarron County at 6.82 m/s, payback 28 years.
Month by month in Cherokee County
March is the strongest month here, at 4.97 m/s and about 1,050 kWh. July is the weakest, 3.32 m/s and 310 kWh, so the best month makes 3.4 times the worst. November to March brings in 53% of the year's output in Cherokee County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.65 m/s | 870 kWh | $120 |
| February | 4.83 m/s | 876 kWh | $121 |
| March | 4.97 m/s | 1,050 kWh | $145 |
| April | 4.99 m/s | 1,025 kWh | $142 |
| May | 4.31 m/s | 701 kWh | $97 |
| June | 3.87 m/s | 489 kWh | $68 |
| July | 3.32 m/s | 310 kWh | $43 |
| August | 3.35 m/s | 321 kWh | $44 |
| September | 3.71 m/s | 426 kWh | $59 |
| October | 4.28 m/s | 686 kWh | $95 |
| November | 4.62 m/s | 830 kWh | $115 |
| December | 4.52 m/s | 801 kWh | $111 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Cherokee County averages 2.9 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.13 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.354, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 5,204 to 13,421 kWh a year, 158% 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 | 3.71 m/s | 5,204 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 4.28 m/s | 8,072 kWh | 90 years |
| 40 m | 4.74 m/s | 10,828 kWh | 67 years |
| 50 m | 5.13 m/s | 13,421 kWh | 54 years |
Counties around Cherokee County
5 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Muskogee County, averages 5.63 m/s.
- Adair County, OK: 3.94 m/s, 6,280 kWh, payback over 100 years (19 mi)
- Wagoner County, OK: 5.47 m/s, 15,821 kWh, payback 46 years (29 mi)
- Muskogee County, OK: 5.63 m/s, 16,980 kWh, payback 43 years (29 mi)
- Mayes County, OK: 5.2 m/s, 13,907 kWh, payback 52 years (31 mi)
- Sequoyah County, OK: 4.62 m/s, 10,070 kWh, payback 72 years (31 mi)
- Delaware County, OK: 5.2 m/s, 13,907 kWh, payback 52 years (35 mi)
Sun versus wind in Cherokee County
Cherokee County gets 4.44 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,296 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 806. 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.