Wind Turbine Payback in Del Norte County, CA
Wind turbine payback in Del Norte 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 Del Norte County, CA averages 2.88 m/s (6.4 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 2,259 kWh a year, worth $736 at CA's 32.58¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of over 100 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Del Norte County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Del Norte County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 5.4 m/s at the hub against 2.88 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,378 kWh a year here against the turbine's 226, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 221¢/kWh, 6.8 times what CA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 5.4 m/s instead of 2.88. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of CA
Del Norte County is the 3,115th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in CA is San Francisco County at 6.53 m/s, payback 13 years.
Month by month in Del Norte County
December is the strongest month here, at 3.48 m/s and about 362 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.40 m/s and 98 kWh, so the best month makes 3.7 times the worst. November to March brings in 58% of the year's output in Del Norte County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.26 m/s | 292 kWh | $95 |
| February | 3.15 m/s | 236 kWh | $77 |
| March | 3.08 m/s | 242 kWh | $79 |
| April | 2.78 m/s | 165 kWh | $54 |
| May | 2.56 m/s | 126 kWh | $41 |
| June | 2.70 m/s | 147 kWh | $48 |
| July | 2.43 m/s | 103 kWh | $34 |
| August | 2.40 m/s | 98 kWh | $32 |
| September | 2.64 m/s | 136 kWh | $44 |
| October | 2.95 m/s | 208 kWh | $68 |
| November | 3.10 m/s | 239 kWh | $78 |
| December | 3.48 m/s | 362 kWh | $118 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Del Norte County averages 2.05 m/s; at 50 m it is 3.37 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.309, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 1,432 to 3,830 kWh a year, 167% 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 | 2.54 m/s | 1,432 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 2.88 m/s | 2,254 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 3.15 m/s | 3,052 kWh | over 100 years |
| 50 m | 3.37 m/s | 3,830 kWh | 80 years |
Counties around Del Norte County
4 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Curry County, averages 4.71 m/s.
- Josephine County, OR: 2.84 m/s, 2,152 kWh, payback over 100 years (49 mi)
- Curry County, OR: 4.71 m/s, 10,635 kWh, payback 61 years (51 mi)
- Humboldt County, CA: 2.96 m/s, 2,484 kWh, payback over 100 years (72 mi)
- Siskiyou County, CA: 2.97 m/s, 2,513 kWh, payback over 100 years (76 mi)
- Jackson County, OR: 2.98 m/s, 2,542 kWh, payback over 100 years (81 mi)
- Trinity County, CA: 2.43 m/s, 1,211 kWh, payback over 100 years (88 mi)
Sun versus wind in Del Norte County
Del Norte County gets 4.72 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,378 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 226. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 6.1 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.