Wind Turbine Payback in Cheyenne County, CO
Wind turbine payback in Cheyenne 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 Cheyenne County, CO averages 6.14 m/s (13.7 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 20,742 kWh a year, worth $3,485 at CO's 16.8¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 29 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Cheyenne County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Cheyenne County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.4 m/s at the hub against 6.14 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,472 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,074, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 24¢/kWh, 1.4 times what CO pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.4 m/s instead of 6.14. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of CO
Cheyenne County is the 646th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in CO is Baca County at 6.65 m/s, payback 24 years.
Month by month in Cheyenne County
April is the strongest month here, at 6.91 m/s and about 2,171 kWh. August is the weakest, 5.45 m/s and 1,334 kWh, so the best month makes 1.6 times the worst. November to March brings in 43% of the year's output in Cheyenne County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.12 m/s | 1,747 kWh | $293 |
| February | 6.21 m/s | 1,634 kWh | $275 |
| March | 6.52 m/s | 2,000 kWh | $336 |
| April | 6.91 m/s | 2,171 kWh | $365 |
| May | 6.29 m/s | 1,854 kWh | $311 |
| June | 6.01 m/s | 1,625 kWh | $273 |
| July | 5.48 m/s | 1,351 kWh | $227 |
| August | 5.45 m/s | 1,334 kWh | $224 |
| September | 6.06 m/s | 1,658 kWh | $279 |
| October | 6.24 m/s | 1,825 kWh | $307 |
| November | 6.29 m/s | 1,799 kWh | $302 |
| December | 6.17 m/s | 1,780 kWh | $299 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Cheyenne County averages 4.83 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.87 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.219, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 16,914 to 26,109 kWh a year, 54% 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 | 5.62 m/s | 16,914 kWh | 35 years |
| 30 m | 6.14 m/s | 20,764 kWh | 29 years |
| 40 m | 6.54 m/s | 23,719 kWh | 25 years |
| 50 m | 6.87 m/s | 26,109 kWh | 23 years |
Counties around Cheyenne County
4 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Wallace County, averages 6.3 m/s.
- Kiowa County, CO: 5.95 m/s, 19,334 kWh, payback 31 years (32 mi)
- Kit Carson County, CO: 6.18 m/s, 21,039 kWh, payback 28 years (32 mi)
- Wallace County, KS: 6.3 m/s, 21,929 kWh, payback 30 years (45 mi)
- Greeley County, KS: 6.26 m/s, 21,632 kWh, payback 30 years (49 mi)
- Lincoln County, CO: 5.67 m/s, 17,272 kWh, payback 35 years (50 mi)
- Sherman County, KS: 6.28 m/s, 21,781 kWh, payback 30 years (59 mi)
Sun versus wind in Cheyenne County
Cheyenne County gets 5.04 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,472 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,074. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.4 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.