Wind Turbine Payback in Edwards County, TX
Wind turbine payback in Edwards 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 Edwards County, TX averages 6.07 m/s (13.6 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 20,223 kWh a year, worth $3,242 at TX's 16.03¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 31 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Edwards County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Edwards County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.6 m/s at the hub against 6.07 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,460 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,022, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 25¢/kWh, 1.5 times what TX pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.6 m/s instead of 6.07. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of TX
Edwards County is the 717th 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 Edwards County
April is the strongest month here, at 6.81 m/s and about 2,110 kWh. September is the weakest, 5.25 m/s and 1,172 kWh, so the best month makes 1.8 times the worst. November to March brings in 44% of the year's output in Edwards County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.04 m/s | 1,698 kWh | $272 |
| February | 6.33 m/s | 1,697 kWh | $272 |
| March | 6.57 m/s | 2,030 kWh | $325 |
| April | 6.81 m/s | 2,110 kWh | $338 |
| May | 6.50 m/s | 1,985 kWh | $318 |
| June | 6.13 m/s | 1,698 kWh | $272 |
| July | 5.69 m/s | 1,479 kWh | $237 |
| August | 5.33 m/s | 1,259 kWh | $202 |
| September | 5.25 m/s | 1,172 kWh | $188 |
| October | 5.98 m/s | 1,659 kWh | $266 |
| November | 6.14 m/s | 1,703 kWh | $273 |
| December | 6.05 m/s | 1,704 kWh | $273 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Edwards County averages 4.79 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.77 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.215, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 16,467 to 25,384 kWh a year, 54% 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 | 5.56 m/s | 16,467 kWh | 38 years |
| 30 m | 6.07 m/s | 20,192 kWh | 31 years |
| 40 m | 6.45 m/s | 23,059 kWh | 27 years |
| 50 m | 6.77 m/s | 25,384 kWh | 25 years |
Counties around Edwards County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Sutton County, averages 6.28 m/s.
- Real County, TX: 6.07 m/s, 20,223 kWh, payback 31 years (32 mi)
- Sutton County, TX: 6.28 m/s, 21,781 kWh, payback 29 years (39 mi)
- Kinney County, TX: 5.78 m/s, 18,079 kWh, payback 35 years (45 mi)
- Kimble County, TX: 6.2 m/s, 21,187 kWh, payback 29 years (48 mi)
- Val Verde County, TX: 6.01 m/s, 19,778 kWh, payback 32 years (51 mi)
- Uvalde County, TX: 5.61 m/s, 16,834 kWh, payback 37 years (55 mi)
Sun versus wind in Edwards County
Edwards 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 2,022. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.4 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.