Wind Turbine Payback in Doña Ana County, NM
Wind turbine payback in Doña Ana 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 Doña Ana County, NM averages 5.01 m/s (11.2 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 12,602 kWh a year, worth $1,933 at NM's 15.34¢/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 Doña Ana County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Doña Ana County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.8 m/s at the hub against 5.01 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,679 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,260, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 40¢/kWh, 2.6 times what NM pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.8 m/s instead of 5.01. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of NM
Doña Ana County is the 1,449th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in NM is Union County at 6.75 m/s, payback 26 years.
Month by month in Doña Ana County
April is the strongest month here, at 6.55 m/s and about 1,954 kWh. August is the weakest, 3.70 m/s and 437 kWh, so the best month makes 4.5 times the worst. November to March brings in 43% of the year's output in Doña Ana County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.81 m/s | 957 kWh | $147 |
| February | 5.45 m/s | 1,201 kWh | $184 |
| March | 5.83 m/s | 1,567 kWh | $240 |
| April | 6.55 m/s | 1,954 kWh | $300 |
| May | 6.07 m/s | 1,717 kWh | $263 |
| June | 5.29 m/s | 1,194 kWh | $183 |
| July | 3.95 m/s | 539 kWh | $83 |
| August | 3.70 m/s | 437 kWh | $67 |
| September | 4.25 m/s | 648 kWh | $99 |
| October | 4.73 m/s | 913 kWh | $140 |
| November | 4.73 m/s | 883 kWh | $135 |
| December | 4.82 m/s | 961 kWh | $147 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Doña Ana County averages 3.89 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.64 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.231, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 9,727 to 17,053 kWh a year, 75% 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 | 4.56 m/s | 9,727 kWh | 67 years |
| 30 m | 5.01 m/s | 12,617 kWh | 52 years |
| 40 m | 5.36 m/s | 15,010 kWh | 43 years |
| 50 m | 5.64 m/s | 17,053 kWh | 38 years |
Counties around Doña Ana County
5 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Grant County, averages 5.52 m/s.
- El Paso County, TX: 5.01 m/s, 12,602 kWh, payback 50 years (53 mi)
- Luna County, NM: 5.33 m/s, 14,821 kWh, payback 44 years (55 mi)
- Sierra County, NM: 5.05 m/s, 12,873 kWh, payback 51 years (57 mi)
- Otero County, NM: 5.15 m/s, 13,560 kWh, payback 48 years (66 mi)
- Grant County, NM: 5.52 m/s, 16,181 kWh, payback 40 years (94 mi)
- Hudspeth County, TX: 5.39 m/s, 15,247 kWh, payback 41 years (106 mi)
Sun versus wind in Doña Ana County
Doña Ana County gets 5.75 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,679 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,260. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.3 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.