Wind Turbine Payback in Douglas County, MO
Wind turbine payback in Douglas 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 Douglas County, MO averages 4.03 m/s (9 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 6,729 kWh a year, worth $961 at MO's 14.28¢/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 Douglas County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Douglas County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.2 m/s at the hub against 4.03 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,279 kWh a year here against the turbine's 673, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 74¢/kWh, 5.2 times what MO pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.2 m/s instead of 4.03. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of MO
Douglas County is the 2,037th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in MO is Atchison County at 6.17 m/s, payback 33 years.
Month by month in Douglas County
March is the strongest month here, at 4.71 m/s and about 905 kWh. July is the weakest, 3.03 m/s and 229 kWh, so the best month makes 4.0 times the worst. November to March brings in 55% of the year's output in Douglas County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.55 m/s | 817 kWh | $117 |
| February | 4.66 m/s | 790 kWh | $113 |
| March | 4.71 m/s | 905 kWh | $129 |
| April | 4.72 m/s | 881 kWh | $126 |
| May | 4.02 m/s | 568 kWh | $81 |
| June | 3.48 m/s | 350 kWh | $50 |
| July | 3.03 m/s | 229 kWh | $33 |
| August | 3.11 m/s | 249 kWh | $36 |
| September | 3.46 m/s | 342 kWh | $49 |
| October | 4.02 m/s | 568 kWh | $81 |
| November | 4.31 m/s | 675 kWh | $96 |
| December | 4.34 m/s | 713 kWh | $102 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Douglas County averages 2.72 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.84 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.358, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 4,275 to 11,472 kWh a year, 168% 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 | 3.49 m/s | 4,275 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 4.03 m/s | 6,735 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 4.47 m/s | 9,150 kWh | 77 years |
| 50 m | 4.84 m/s | 11,472 kWh | 61 years |
Counties around Douglas County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Webster County, averages 4.73 m/s.
- Ozark County, MO: 3.36 m/s, 3,794 kWh, payback over 100 years (21 mi)
- Wright County, MO: 3.81 m/s, 5,660 kWh, payback over 100 years (22 mi)
- Webster County, MO: 4.73 m/s, 10,762 kWh, payback 65 years (30 mi)
- Taney County, MO: 3.76 m/s, 5,432 kWh, payback over 100 years (36 mi)
- Howell County, MO: 3.73 m/s, 5,297 kWh, payback over 100 years (37 mi)
- Christian County, MO: 4.56 m/s, 9,702 kWh, payback 72 years (37 mi)
Sun versus wind in Douglas County
Douglas County gets 4.38 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,279 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 673. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.9 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.