Wind Turbine Payback in Converse County, WY
Wind turbine payback in Converse 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 Converse County, WY averages 6.97 m/s (15.6 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 26,828 kWh a year, worth $3,759 at WY's 14.01¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 27 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Converse County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Converse County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.3 m/s at the hub against 6.97 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,320 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,683, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 19¢/kWh, 1.3 times what WY pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.3 m/s instead of 6.97. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of WY
Converse County is the 21st windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in WY is Albany County at 7.32 m/s, payback 24 years.
Month by month in Converse County
January is the strongest month here, at 8.93 m/s and about 3,339 kWh. July is the weakest, 5.33 m/s and 1,258 kWh, so the best month makes 2.7 times the worst. November to March brings in 55% of the year's output in Converse County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8.93 m/s | 3,339 kWh | $468 |
| February | 7.94 m/s | 2,568 kWh | $360 |
| March | 7.37 m/s | 2,520 kWh | $353 |
| April | 6.75 m/s | 2,074 kWh | $291 |
| May | 6.05 m/s | 1,707 kWh | $239 |
| June | 5.83 m/s | 1,514 kWh | $212 |
| July | 5.33 m/s | 1,258 kWh | $176 |
| August | 5.49 m/s | 1,357 kWh | $190 |
| September | 6.09 m/s | 1,674 kWh | $235 |
| October | 7.07 m/s | 2,337 kWh | $327 |
| November | 8.14 m/s | 2,854 kWh | $400 |
| December | 8.71 m/s | 3,237 kWh | $454 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Converse County averages 5.62 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.71 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.196, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 22,983 to 31,946 kWh a year, 39% 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 | 6.44 m/s | 22,983 kWh | 31 years |
| 30 m | 6.98 m/s | 26,867 kWh | 27 years |
| 40 m | 7.38 m/s | 29,714 kWh | 24 years |
| 50 m | 7.71 m/s | 31,946 kWh | 22 years |
Counties around Converse County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Platte County, averages 7.03 m/s.
- Niobrara County, WY: 6.56 m/s, 23,849 kWh, payback 30 years (54 mi)
- Natrona County, WY: 6.38 m/s, 22,521 kWh, payback 32 years (63 mi)
- Platte County, WY: 7.03 m/s, 27,257 kWh, payback 26 years (66 mi)
- Weston County, WY: 5.46 m/s, 15,749 kWh, payback 45 years (76 mi)
- Campbell County, WY: 6.03 m/s, 19,926 kWh, payback 36 years (83 mi)
- Goshen County, WY: 6.38 m/s, 22,521 kWh, payback 32 years (86 mi)
Sun versus wind in Converse County
Converse County gets 4.52 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,320 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,683. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 2.0 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.