Wind Turbine Payback in Cottonwood County, MN
Wind turbine payback in Cottonwood 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 Cottonwood County, MN averages 6.53 m/s (14.6 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 23,628 kWh a year, worth $3,884 at MN's 16.44¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 26 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Cottonwood County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Cottonwood County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.5 m/s at the hub against 6.53 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,165 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,363, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 21¢/kWh, 1.3 times what MN pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.5 m/s instead of 6.53. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of MN
Cottonwood County is the 165th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in MN is Lincoln County at 6.68 m/s, payback 25 years.
Month by month in Cottonwood County
April is the strongest month here, at 7.24 m/s and about 2,364 kWh. August is the weakest, 5.33 m/s and 1,258 kWh, so the best month makes 1.9 times the worst. November to March brings in 46% of the year's output in Cottonwood County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.91 m/s | 2,243 kWh | $369 |
| February | 6.89 m/s | 2,016 kWh | $331 |
| March | 6.95 m/s | 2,265 kWh | $372 |
| April | 7.24 m/s | 2,364 kWh | $389 |
| May | 6.72 m/s | 2,127 kWh | $350 |
| June | 6.05 m/s | 1,649 kWh | $271 |
| July | 5.36 m/s | 1,275 kWh | $210 |
| August | 5.33 m/s | 1,258 kWh | $207 |
| September | 6.45 m/s | 1,895 kWh | $312 |
| October | 6.88 m/s | 2,226 kWh | $366 |
| November | 6.97 m/s | 2,202 kWh | $362 |
| December | 6.74 m/s | 2,138 kWh | $351 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Cottonwood County averages 5.19 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.27 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.209, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 19,726 to 28,951 kWh a year, 47% 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 m/s | 19,726 kWh | 31 years |
| 30 m | 6.53 m/s | 23,656 kWh | 26 years |
| 40 m | 6.94 m/s | 26,604 kWh | 23 years |
| 50 m | 7.27 m/s | 28,951 kWh | 21 years |
Counties around Cottonwood County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Murray County, averages 6.68 m/s.
- Jackson County, MN: 6.59 m/s, 24,069 kWh, payback 25 years (24 mi)
- Redwood County, MN: 6.34 m/s, 22,225 kWh, payback 27 years (27 mi)
- Brown County, MN: 6.53 m/s, 23,628 kWh, payback 26 years (28 mi)
- Watonwan County, MN: 6.38 m/s, 22,521 kWh, payback 27 years (28 mi)
- Murray County, MN: 6.68 m/s, 24,728 kWh, payback 25 years (29 mi)
- Nobles County, MN: 6.57 m/s, 23,922 kWh, payback 25 years (37 mi)
Sun versus wind in Cottonwood County
Cottonwood County gets 3.99 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,165 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,363. 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.