Wind Turbine Payback in Cherry County, NE
Wind turbine payback in Cherry 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 Cherry County, NE averages 6.83 m/s (15.3 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 25,819 kWh a year, worth $3,336 at NE's 12.92¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 30 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Cherry County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Cherry County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.8 m/s at the hub against 6.83 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,314 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,582, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 19¢/kWh, 1.5 times what NE pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.8 m/s instead of 6.83. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of NE
Cherry County is the 29th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. It is the windiest county in NE.
Month by month in Cherry County
January is the strongest month here, at 7.56 m/s and about 2,626 kWh. July is the weakest, 5.72 m/s and 1,499 kWh, so the best month makes 1.8 times the worst. November to March brings in 47% of the year's output in Cherry County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.56 m/s | 2,626 kWh | $339 |
| February | 7.18 m/s | 2,172 kWh | $281 |
| March | 7.13 m/s | 2,378 kWh | $307 |
| April | 7.27 m/s | 2,379 kWh | $307 |
| May | 6.68 m/s | 2,103 kWh | $272 |
| June | 6.13 m/s | 1,697 kWh | $219 |
| July | 5.72 m/s | 1,499 kWh | $194 |
| August | 5.81 m/s | 1,555 kWh | $201 |
| September | 6.57 m/s | 1,965 kWh | $254 |
| October | 7.09 m/s | 2,351 kWh | $304 |
| November | 7.32 m/s | 2,410 kWh | $311 |
| December | 7.47 m/s | 2,574 kWh | $333 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Cherry County averages 5.44 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.59 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.207, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 21,771 to 31,145 kWh a year, 43% 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 | 6.28 m/s | 21,771 kWh | 36 years |
| 30 m | 6.83 m/s | 25,808 kWh | 30 years |
| 40 m | 7.25 m/s | 28,793 kWh | 27 years |
| 50 m | 7.59 m/s | 31,145 kWh | 25 years |
Counties around Cherry County
None of the 6 closest counties is windier than Cherry County.
- Hooker County, NE: 6.82 m/s, 25,747 kWh, payback 30 years (45 mi)
- Todd County, SD: 6.77 m/s, 25,384 kWh, payback 27 years (47 mi)
- Bennett County, SD: 6.73 m/s, 25,093 kWh, payback 27 years (53 mi)
- Thomas County, NE: 6.78 m/s, 25,457 kWh, payback 30 years (56 mi)
- Grant County, NE: 6.73 m/s, 25,093 kWh, payback 31 years (58 mi)
- Brown County, NE: 6.77 m/s, 25,384 kWh, payback 31 years (59 mi)
Sun versus wind in Cherry County
Cherry 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 2,582. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 2.0 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.