Wind Turbine Payback in Duval County, TX
Wind turbine payback in Duval 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 Duval County, TX averages 5.98 m/s (13.4 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 19,556 kWh a year, worth $3,135 at TX's 16.03¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 32 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Duval County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Duval County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.6 m/s at the hub against 5.98 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,454 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,956, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 26¢/kWh, 1.6 times what TX pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.6 m/s instead of 5.98. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of TX
Duval County is the 873rd windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in TX is Dallam County at 6.82 m/s, payback 24 years.
Month by month in Duval County
May is the strongest month here, at 6.69 m/s and about 2,104 kWh. September is the weakest, 5.11 m/s and 1,094 kWh, so the best month makes 1.9 times the worst. November to March brings in 40% of the year's output in Duval County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.71 m/s | 1,490 kWh | $239 |
| February | 5.95 m/s | 1,483 kWh | $238 |
| March | 6.41 m/s | 1,930 kWh | $309 |
| April | 6.71 m/s | 2,053 kWh | $329 |
| May | 6.69 m/s | 2,104 kWh | $337 |
| June | 6.29 m/s | 1,797 kWh | $288 |
| July | 6.26 m/s | 1,840 kWh | $295 |
| August | 5.70 m/s | 1,484 kWh | $238 |
| September | 5.11 m/s | 1,094 kWh | $175 |
| October | 5.60 m/s | 1,423 kWh | $228 |
| November | 5.70 m/s | 1,436 kWh | $230 |
| December | 5.60 m/s | 1,423 kWh | $228 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Duval County averages 4.75 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.65 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.209, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 15,972 to 24,509 kWh a year, 53% 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 | 5.49 m/s | 15,972 kWh | 39 years |
| 30 m | 5.98 m/s | 19,531 kWh | 32 years |
| 40 m | 6.35 m/s | 22,277 kWh | 28 years |
| 50 m | 6.65 m/s | 24,509 kWh | 26 years |
Counties around Duval County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Jim Hogg County, averages 6.03 m/s.
- Jim Wells County, TX: 5.85 m/s, 18,595 kWh, payback 34 years (25 mi)
- Jim Hogg County, TX: 6.03 m/s, 19,926 kWh, payback 31 years (46 mi)
- Brooks County, TX: 5.96 m/s, 19,408 kWh, payback 32 years (48 mi)
- McMullen County, TX: 5.49 m/s, 15,965 kWh, payback 39 years (49 mi)
- Live Oak County, TX: 5.6 m/s, 16,762 kWh, payback 37 years (52 mi)
- Webb County, TX: 5.68 m/s, 17,345 kWh, payback 36 years (52 mi)
Sun versus wind in Duval County
Duval County gets 4.98 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,454 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,956. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.3 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.