Wind Turbine Payback in Fayette County, TX
Wind turbine payback in Fayette 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 Fayette County, TX averages 5.39 m/s (12.1 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 15,247 kWh a year, worth $2,444 at TX's 16.03¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 41 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Fayette County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Fayette County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.6 m/s at the hub against 5.39 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,375 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,525, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 33¢/kWh, 2.0 times what TX pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.6 m/s instead of 5.39. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of TX
Fayette County is the 1,288th 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 Fayette County
March is the strongest month here, at 6.05 m/s and about 1,705 kWh. August is the weakest, 4.38 m/s and 733 kWh, so the best month makes 2.3 times the worst. November to March brings in 50% of the year's output in Fayette County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.82 m/s | 1,561 kWh | $250 |
| February | 6.02 m/s | 1,525 kWh | $244 |
| March | 6.05 m/s | 1,705 kWh | $273 |
| April | 6.12 m/s | 1,694 kWh | $272 |
| May | 5.70 m/s | 1,484 kWh | $238 |
| June | 4.92 m/s | 985 kWh | $158 |
| July | 4.56 m/s | 826 kWh | $132 |
| August | 4.38 m/s | 733 kWh | $117 |
| September | 4.47 m/s | 752 kWh | $121 |
| October | 5.18 m/s | 1,166 kWh | $187 |
| November | 5.66 m/s | 1,415 kWh | $227 |
| December | 5.79 m/s | 1,539 kWh | $247 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Fayette County averages 4.14 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.09 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.240, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 11,786 to 20,371 kWh a year, 73% 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 | 4.89 m/s | 11,786 kWh | 53 years |
| 30 m | 5.39 m/s | 15,228 kWh | 41 years |
| 40 m | 5.77 m/s | 18,023 kWh | 35 years |
| 50 m | 6.09 m/s | 20,371 kWh | 31 years |
Counties around Fayette County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Bastrop County, averages 5.43 m/s.
- Bastrop County, TX: 5.43 m/s, 15,534 kWh, payback 40 years (28 mi)
- Lee County, TX: 5.41 m/s, 15,390 kWh, payback 41 years (31 mi)
- Colorado County, TX: 5.24 m/s, 14,186 kWh, payback 44 years (31 mi)
- Lavaca County, TX: 5.36 m/s, 15,034 kWh, payback 42 years (34 mi)
- Washington County, TX: 5.09 m/s, 13,146 kWh, payback 48 years (38 mi)
- Austin County, TX: 5.09 m/s, 13,146 kWh, payback 48 years (39 mi)
Sun versus wind in Fayette County
Fayette County gets 4.71 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,375 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,525. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.1 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.