Wind Turbine Payback in Clay County, TX
Wind turbine payback in Clay 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 Clay County, TX averages 5.94 m/s (13.3 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 19,260 kWh a year, worth $3,087 at TX's 16.03¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 32 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Clay County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Clay County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.6 m/s at the hub against 5.94 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,451 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,926, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 26¢/kWh, 1.6 times what TX pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.6 m/s instead of 5.94. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of TX
Clay County is the 934th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in TX is Dallam County at 6.82 m/s, payback 24 years.
Month by month in Clay County
April is the strongest month here, at 6.95 m/s and about 2,191 kWh. August is the weakest, 4.93 m/s and 1,028 kWh, so the best month makes 2.1 times the worst. November to March brings in 46% of the year's output in Clay County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.03 m/s | 1,695 kWh | $272 |
| February | 6.22 m/s | 1,636 kWh | $262 |
| March | 6.59 m/s | 2,045 kWh | $328 |
| April | 6.95 m/s | 2,191 kWh | $351 |
| May | 6.27 m/s | 1,845 kWh | $296 |
| June | 5.86 m/s | 1,532 kWh | $246 |
| July | 5.09 m/s | 1,119 kWh | $179 |
| August | 4.93 m/s | 1,028 kWh | $165 |
| September | 5.17 m/s | 1,128 kWh | $181 |
| October | 5.99 m/s | 1,667 kWh | $267 |
| November | 6.30 m/s | 1,802 kWh | $289 |
| December | 5.97 m/s | 1,656 kWh | $265 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Clay County averages 4.58 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.71 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.237, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 15,320 to 24,947 kWh a year, 63% 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 | 5.4 m/s | 15,320 kWh | 41 years |
| 30 m | 5.94 m/s | 19,296 kWh | 32 years |
| 40 m | 6.36 m/s | 22,405 kWh | 28 years |
| 50 m | 6.71 m/s | 24,947 kWh | 25 years |
Counties around Clay County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Cotton County, averages 6.06 m/s.
- Montague County, TX: 5.91 m/s, 19,038 kWh, payback 33 years (29 mi)
- Archer County, TX: 6.03 m/s, 19,926 kWh, payback 31 years (30 mi)
- Jefferson County, OK: 5.94 m/s, 19,260 kWh, payback 38 years (31 mi)
- Wichita County, TX: 5.95 m/s, 19,334 kWh, payback 32 years (32 mi)
- Cotton County, OK: 6.06 m/s, 20,149 kWh, payback 36 years (36 mi)
- Jack County, TX: 5.94 m/s, 19,260 kWh, payback 32 years (38 mi)
Sun versus wind in Clay County
Clay County gets 4.97 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,451 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,926. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.3 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.