Wind Turbine Payback in Clarke County, MS
Wind turbine payback in Clarke 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 Clarke County, MS averages 2.96 m/s (6.6 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 2,484 kWh a year, worth $374 at MS's 15.06¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of over 100 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Clarke County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Clarke County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.9 m/s at the hub against 2.96 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,337 kWh a year here against the turbine's 248, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 201¢/kWh, 13.4 times what MS pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.9 m/s instead of 2.96. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of MS
Clarke County is the 3,076th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in MS is DeSoto County at 5.13 m/s, payback 50 years.
Month by month in Clarke County
March is the strongest month here, at 3.33 m/s and about 312 kWh. July is the weakest, 2.33 m/s and 87 kWh, so the best month makes 3.6 times the worst. November to March brings in 54% of the year's output in Clarke County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.20 m/s | 275 kWh | $41 |
| February | 3.29 m/s | 271 kWh | $41 |
| March | 3.33 m/s | 312 kWh | $47 |
| April | 3.34 m/s | 306 kWh | $46 |
| May | 2.93 m/s | 204 kWh | $31 |
| June | 2.53 m/s | 117 kWh | $18 |
| July | 2.33 m/s | 87 kWh | $13 |
| August | 2.41 m/s | 99 kWh | $15 |
| September | 2.76 m/s | 159 kWh | $24 |
| October | 3.04 m/s | 231 kWh | $35 |
| November | 3.19 m/s | 264 kWh | $40 |
| December | 3.18 m/s | 268 kWh | $40 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Clarke County averages 1.72 m/s; at 50 m it is 3.81 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.494, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 1,197 to 5,660 kWh a year, 373% 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 | 2.42 m/s | 1,197 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 2.96 m/s | 2,485 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 3.41 m/s | 3,989 kWh | over 100 years |
| 50 m | 3.81 m/s | 5,660 kWh | over 100 years |
Counties around Clarke County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Lauderdale County, averages 3.04 m/s.
- Lauderdale County, MS: 3.04 m/s, 2,721 kWh, payback over 100 years (25 mi)
- Jasper County, MS: 2.96 m/s, 2,484 kWh, payback over 100 years (25 mi)
- Choctaw County, AL: 2.9 m/s, 2,315 kWh, payback over 100 years (26 mi)
- Wayne County, MS: 2.92 m/s, 2,370 kWh, payback over 100 years (28 mi)
- Newton County, MS: 3.03 m/s, 2,691 kWh, payback over 100 years (35 mi)
- Jones County, MS: 2.92 m/s, 2,370 kWh, payback over 100 years (41 mi)
Sun versus wind in Clarke County
Clarke County gets 4.58 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,337 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 248. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 5.4 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.