Wind Turbine Payback in Delaware County, OK
Wind turbine payback in Delaware 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 Delaware County, OK averages 5.2 m/s (11.6 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 13,907 kWh a year, worth $1,921 at OK's 13.81¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 52 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Delaware County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Delaware County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.4 m/s at the hub against 5.2 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,294 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,391, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 36¢/kWh, 2.6 times what OK pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.4 m/s instead of 5.2. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of OK
Delaware County is the 1,379th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in OK is Cimarron County at 6.82 m/s, payback 28 years.
Month by month in Delaware County
April is the strongest month here, at 6.11 m/s and about 1,686 kWh. July is the weakest, 4.08 m/s and 594 kWh, so the best month makes 2.8 times the worst. November to March brings in 51% of the year's output in Delaware County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.56 m/s | 1,400 kWh | $193 |
| February | 5.75 m/s | 1,371 kWh | $189 |
| March | 5.98 m/s | 1,660 kWh | $229 |
| April | 6.11 m/s | 1,686 kWh | $233 |
| May | 5.27 m/s | 1,220 kWh | $168 |
| June | 4.79 m/s | 914 kWh | $126 |
| July | 4.08 m/s | 594 kWh | $82 |
| August | 4.11 m/s | 606 kWh | $84 |
| September | 4.50 m/s | 767 kWh | $106 |
| October | 5.27 m/s | 1,225 kWh | $169 |
| November | 5.66 m/s | 1,412 kWh | $195 |
| December | 5.46 m/s | 1,336 kWh | $185 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Delaware County averages 3.86 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.98 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.272, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 10,325 to 19,556 kWh a year, 89% 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 | 4.66 m/s | 10,325 kWh | 70 years |
| 30 m | 5.2 m/s | 13,936 kWh | 52 years |
| 40 m | 5.63 m/s | 16,964 kWh | 43 years |
| 50 m | 5.98 m/s | 19,556 kWh | 37 years |
Counties around Delaware County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Ottawa County, averages 5.88 m/s.
- Mayes County, OK: 5.2 m/s, 13,907 kWh, payback 52 years (25 mi)
- McDonald County, MO: 4.69 m/s, 10,508 kWh, payback 67 years (30 mi)
- Ottawa County, OK: 5.88 m/s, 18,816 kWh, payback 39 years (31 mi)
- Benton County, AR: 4.69 m/s, 10,508 kWh, payback 69 years (31 mi)
- Craig County, OK: 5.88 m/s, 18,816 kWh, payback 39 years (34 mi)
- Adair County, OK: 3.94 m/s, 6,280 kWh, payback over 100 years (35 mi)
Sun versus wind in Delaware County
Delaware County gets 4.43 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,294 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,391. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.1 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.