Wind Turbine Payback in Crockett County, TN
Wind turbine payback in Crockett 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 Crockett County, TN averages 5.41 m/s (12.1 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 15,390 kWh a year, worth $2,124 at TN's 13.8¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 47 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Crockett County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Crockett County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.4 m/s at the hub against 5.41 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,291 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,539, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 32¢/kWh, 2.4 times what TN pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.4 m/s instead of 5.41. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of TN
Crockett County is the 1,276th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in TN is Lake County at 5.54 m/s, payback 44 years.
Month by month in Crockett County
April is the strongest month here, at 6.47 m/s and about 1,906 kWh. July is the weakest, 3.96 m/s and 540 kWh, so the best month makes 3.5 times the worst. November to March brings in 54% of the year's output in Crockett County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.14 m/s | 1,760 kWh | $243 |
| February | 6.22 m/s | 1,634 kWh | $225 |
| March | 6.33 m/s | 1,882 kWh | $260 |
| April | 6.47 m/s | 1,906 kWh | $263 |
| May | 5.42 m/s | 1,311 kWh | $181 |
| June | 4.46 m/s | 747 kWh | $103 |
| July | 3.96 m/s | 540 kWh | $75 |
| August | 4.03 m/s | 570 kWh | $79 |
| September | 4.65 m/s | 844 kWh | $116 |
| October | 5.42 m/s | 1,311 kWh | $181 |
| November | 5.96 m/s | 1,596 kWh | $220 |
| December | 5.95 m/s | 1,643 kWh | $227 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Crockett County averages 4.1 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.15 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.252, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 11,747 to 20,816 kWh a year, 77% 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 | 4.88 m/s | 11,747 kWh | 62 years |
| 30 m | 5.41 m/s | 15,370 kWh | 47 years |
| 40 m | 5.81 m/s | 18,327 kWh | 40 years |
| 50 m | 6.15 m/s | 20,816 kWh | 35 years |
Counties around Crockett County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Obion County, averages 5.54 m/s.
- Gibson County, TN: 5.09 m/s, 13,146 kWh, payback 55 years (16 mi)
- Haywood County, TN: 5.12 m/s, 13,353 kWh, payback 54 years (18 mi)
- Dyer County, TN: 5.41 m/s, 15,390 kWh, payback 47 years (22 mi)
- Madison County, TN: 4.34 m/s, 8,403 kWh, payback 86 years (22 mi)
- Lauderdale County, TN: 5.41 m/s, 15,390 kWh, payback 47 years (28 mi)
- Obion County, TN: 5.54 m/s, 16,326 kWh, payback 44 years (38 mi)
Sun versus wind in Crockett County
Crockett County gets 4.42 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,291 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,539. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.2 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.