Wind Turbine Payback in Dawes County, NE
Wind turbine payback in Dawes 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 Dawes County, NE averages 6.59 m/s (14.7 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 24,069 kWh a year, worth $3,110 at NE's 12.92¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 32 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Dawes County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Dawes County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.8 m/s at the hub against 6.59 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,317 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,407, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 21¢/kWh, 1.6 times what NE pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.8 m/s instead of 6.59. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of NE
Dawes County is the 119th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in NE is Cherry County at 6.83 m/s, payback 30 years.
Month by month in Dawes County
January is the strongest month here, at 7.42 m/s and about 2,549 kWh. July is the weakest, 5.56 m/s and 1,398 kWh, so the best month makes 1.8 times the worst. November to March brings in 49% of the year's output in Dawes County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.42 m/s | 2,549 kWh | $329 |
| February | 7.06 m/s | 2,110 kWh | $273 |
| March | 6.97 m/s | 2,276 kWh | $294 |
| April | 6.90 m/s | 2,165 kWh | $280 |
| May | 6.31 m/s | 1,869 kWh | $241 |
| June | 5.93 m/s | 1,580 kWh | $204 |
| July | 5.56 m/s | 1,398 kWh | $181 |
| August | 5.66 m/s | 1,459 kWh | $189 |
| September | 6.13 m/s | 1,700 kWh | $220 |
| October | 6.75 m/s | 2,144 kWh | $277 |
| November | 7.13 m/s | 2,297 kWh | $297 |
| December | 7.31 m/s | 2,480 kWh | $320 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Dawes County averages 5.21 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.35 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.214, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 20,010 to 29,506 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 | 6.04 m/s | 20,010 kWh | 39 years |
| 30 m | 6.59 m/s | 24,061 kWh | 32 years |
| 40 m | 7.01 m/s | 27,095 kWh | 29 years |
| 50 m | 7.35 m/s | 29,506 kWh | 26 years |
Counties around Dawes County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Sheridan County, averages 6.61 m/s.
- Sioux County, NE: 6.51 m/s, 23,481 kWh, payback 33 years (35 mi)
- Box Butte County, NE: 6.38 m/s, 22,521 kWh, payback 34 years (35 mi)
- Fall River County, SD: 6.21 m/s, 21,262 kWh, payback 32 years (40 mi)
- Sheridan County, NE: 6.61 m/s, 24,216 kWh, payback 32 years (41 mi)
- Oglala Lakota County, SD: 5.99 m/s, 19,630 kWh, payback 35 years (52 mi)
- Scotts Bluff County, NE: 6.25 m/s, 21,558 kWh, payback 36 years (66 mi)
Sun versus wind in Dawes County
Dawes County gets 4.51 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,317 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,407. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.8 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.