Wind Turbine Payback in Curry County, OR
Wind turbine payback in Curry 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 Curry County, OR averages 4.71 m/s (10.5 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 10,635 kWh a year, worth $1,644 at OR's 15.46¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 61 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Curry County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Curry County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.8 m/s at the hub against 4.71 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,238 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,064, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 47¢/kWh, 3.0 times what OR pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.8 m/s instead of 4.71. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of OR
Curry County is the 1,607th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in OR is Gilliam County at 5.48 m/s, payback 41 years.
Month by month in Curry County
December is the strongest month here, at 5.32 m/s and about 1,251 kWh. September is the weakest, 4.32 m/s and 683 kWh, so the best month makes 1.8 times the worst. November to March brings in 47% of the year's output in Curry County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.10 m/s | 1,125 kWh | $174 |
| February | 4.70 m/s | 809 kWh | $125 |
| March | 4.79 m/s | 944 kWh | $146 |
| April | 4.38 m/s | 708 kWh | $109 |
| May | 4.34 m/s | 714 kWh | $110 |
| June | 4.65 m/s | 844 kWh | $130 |
| July | 5.05 m/s | 1,094 kWh | $169 |
| August | 4.51 m/s | 798 kWh | $123 |
| September | 4.32 m/s | 683 kWh | $106 |
| October | 4.55 m/s | 821 kWh | $127 |
| November | 4.80 m/s | 923 kWh | $143 |
| December | 5.32 m/s | 1,251 kWh | $193 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Curry County averages 3.65 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.31 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.233, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 8,115 to 14,679 kWh a year, 81% 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 | 4.29 m/s | 8,115 kWh | 80 years |
| 30 m | 4.71 m/s | 10,661 kWh | 61 years |
| 40 m | 5.04 m/s | 12,812 kWh | 51 years |
| 50 m | 5.31 m/s | 14,679 kWh | 44 years |
Counties around Curry County
None of the 6 closest counties is windier than Curry County.
- Josephine County, OR: 2.84 m/s, 2,152 kWh, payback over 100 years (33 mi)
- Coos County, OR: 4.33 m/s, 8,346 kWh, payback 78 years (50 mi)
- Del Norte County, CA: 2.88 m/s, 2,259 kWh, payback over 100 years (51 mi)
- Douglas County, OR: 2.81 m/s, 2,073 kWh, payback over 100 years (78 mi)
- Jackson County, OR: 2.98 m/s, 2,542 kWh, payback over 100 years (78 mi)
- Siskiyou County, CA: 2.97 m/s, 2,513 kWh, payback over 100 years (105 mi)
Sun versus wind in Curry County
Curry County gets 4.24 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,238 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,064. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.2 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.