Wind Turbine Payback in Cheyenne County, NE
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, NE averages 6.17 m/s (13.8 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 20,965 kWh a year, worth $2,709 at NE's 12.92¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 37 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, 8.8 m/s at the hub against 6.17 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,352 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, 1.8 times what NE pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.8 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 NE
Cheyenne County is the 608th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in NE is Cherry County at 6.83 m/s, payback 30 years.
Month by month in Cheyenne County
January is the strongest month here, at 6.87 m/s and about 2,220 kWh. July is the weakest, 5.13 m/s and 1,140 kWh, so the best month makes 1.9 times the worst. November to March brings in 49% of the year's output in Cheyenne County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.87 m/s | 2,220 kWh | $287 |
| February | 6.68 m/s | 1,896 kWh | $245 |
| March | 6.70 m/s | 2,111 kWh | $273 |
| April | 6.73 m/s | 2,064 kWh | $267 |
| May | 5.98 m/s | 1,658 kWh | $214 |
| June | 5.56 m/s | 1,352 kWh | $175 |
| July | 5.13 m/s | 1,140 kWh | $147 |
| August | 5.18 m/s | 1,171 kWh | $151 |
| September | 5.64 m/s | 1,400 kWh | $181 |
| October | 6.35 m/s | 1,893 kWh | $245 |
| November | 6.59 m/s | 1,978 kWh | $256 |
| December | 6.74 m/s | 2,138 kWh | $276 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Cheyenne County averages 4.81 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.93 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.227, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 16,970 to 26,541 kWh a year, 56% 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 | 5.63 m/s | 16,970 kWh | 46 years |
| 30 m | 6.17 m/s | 20,974 kWh | 37 years |
| 40 m | 6.59 m/s | 24,052 kWh | 32 years |
| 50 m | 6.93 m/s | 26,541 kWh | 29 years |
Counties around Cheyenne County
4 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Banner County, averages 6.44 m/s.
- Logan County, CO: 5.89 m/s, 18,890 kWh, payback 32 years (34 mi)
- Morrill County, NE: 6.33 m/s, 22,151 kWh, payback 35 years (36 mi)
- Kimball County, NE: 6.1 m/s, 20,446 kWh, payback 38 years (36 mi)
- Deuel County, NE: 6.2 m/s, 21,187 kWh, payback 37 years (36 mi)
- Sedgwick County, CO: 6.2 m/s, 21,187 kWh, payback 28 years (42 mi)
- Banner County, NE: 6.44 m/s, 22,964 kWh, payback 34 years (43 mi)
Sun versus wind in Cheyenne County
Cheyenne County gets 4.63 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,352 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.