Wind Turbine Payback in Delta County, CO
Wind turbine payback in Delta 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 Delta County, CO averages 3.66 m/s (8.2 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 4,991 kWh a year, worth $838 at CO's 16.8¢/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 Delta County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Delta County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.4 m/s at the hub against 3.66 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,460 kWh a year here against the turbine's 499, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 100¢/kWh, 6.0 times what CO pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.4 m/s instead of 3.66. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of CO
Delta County is the 2,323rd windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in CO is Baca County at 6.65 m/s, payback 24 years.
Month by month in Delta County
April is the strongest month here, at 4.42 m/s and about 727 kWh. August is the weakest, 3.18 m/s and 269 kWh, so the best month makes 2.7 times the worst. November to March brings in 36% of the year's output in Delta County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.21 m/s | 276 kWh | $46 |
| February | 3.72 m/s | 404 kWh | $68 |
| March | 4.02 m/s | 566 kWh | $95 |
| April | 4.42 m/s | 727 kWh | $122 |
| May | 4.08 m/s | 593 kWh | $100 |
| June | 4.20 m/s | 628 kWh | $106 |
| July | 3.29 m/s | 300 kWh | $50 |
| August | 3.18 m/s | 269 kWh | $45 |
| September | 3.55 m/s | 373 kWh | $63 |
| October | 3.61 m/s | 405 kWh | $68 |
| November | 3.47 m/s | 347 kWh | $58 |
| December | 3.26 m/s | 292 kWh | $49 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Delta County averages 2.85 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.11 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.227, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 3,714 to 7,143 kWh a year, 92% 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 | 3.34 m/s | 3,714 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.66 m/s | 4,991 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 3.91 m/s | 6,119 kWh | 97 years |
| 50 m | 4.11 m/s | 7,143 kWh | 83 years |
Counties around Delta County
4 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Gunnison County, averages 4.6 m/s.
- Mesa County, CO: 4.25 m/s, 7,897 kWh, payback 75 years (34 mi)
- Montrose County, CO: 3.93 m/s, 6,231 kWh, payback 96 years (38 mi)
- Gunnison County, CO: 4.6 m/s, 9,947 kWh, payback 60 years (45 mi)
- Ouray County, CO: 3.36 m/s, 3,794 kWh, payback over 100 years (49 mi)
- Garfield County, CO: 3.87 m/s, 5,942 kWh, payback over 100 years (51 mi)
- Pitkin County, CO: 3.5 m/s, 4,329 kWh, payback over 100 years (57 mi)
Sun versus wind in Delta County
Delta County gets 5 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,460 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 499. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 2.9 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.