Wind Turbine Payback in Clearwater County, ID
Wind turbine payback in Clearwater 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 Clearwater County, ID averages 2.58 m/s (5.8 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 1,521 kWh a year, worth $198 at ID's 13.02¢/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 Clearwater County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Clearwater County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.7 m/s at the hub against 2.58 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,115 kWh a year here against the turbine's 152, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 329¢/kWh, 25.2 times what ID pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.7 m/s instead of 2.58. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of ID
Clearwater County is the 3,134th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in ID is Owyhee County at 5.38 m/s, payback 51 years.
Month by month in Clearwater County
January is the strongest month here, at 2.95 m/s and about 208 kWh. July is the weakest, 2.13 m/s and 60 kWh, so the best month makes 3.5 times the worst. November to March brings in 57% of the year's output in Clearwater County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2.95 m/s | 208 kWh | $27 |
| February | 2.82 m/s | 162 kWh | $21 |
| March | 2.83 m/s | 181 kWh | $24 |
| April | 2.66 m/s | 140 kWh | $18 |
| May | 2.39 m/s | 96 kWh | $12 |
| June | 2.28 m/s | 77 kWh | $10 |
| July | 2.13 m/s | 60 kWh | $8 |
| August | 2.26 m/s | 76 kWh | $10 |
| September | 2.40 m/s | 95 kWh | $12 |
| October | 2.64 m/s | 141 kWh | $18 |
| November | 2.83 m/s | 175 kWh | $23 |
| December | 2.86 m/s | 188 kWh | $24 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Clearwater County averages 1.7 m/s; at 50 m it is 3.14 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.381, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 831 to 3,034 kWh a year, 265% 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 | 2.21 m/s | 831 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 2.58 m/s | 1,531 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 2.88 m/s | 2,271 kWh | over 100 years |
| 50 m | 3.14 m/s | 3,034 kWh | over 100 years |
Counties around Clearwater County
6 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Nez Perce County, averages 3.94 m/s.
- Mineral County, MT: 3 m/s, 2,601 kWh, payback over 100 years (41 mi)
- Lewis County, ID: 3.33 m/s, 3,684 kWh, payback over 100 years (47 mi)
- Shoshone County, ID: 2.97 m/s, 2,513 kWh, payback over 100 years (48 mi)
- Latah County, ID: 3.61 m/s, 4,778 kWh, payback over 100 years (52 mi)
- Idaho County, ID: 2.77 m/s, 1,970 kWh, payback over 100 years (58 mi)
- Nez Perce County, ID: 3.94 m/s, 6,280 kWh, payback over 100 years (58 mi)
Sun versus wind in Clearwater County
Clearwater County gets 3.82 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,115 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 152. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 7.3 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.