Wind Turbine Payback in Ford County, KS
Wind turbine payback in Ford 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 Ford County, KS averages 6.58 m/s (14.7 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 23,996 kWh a year, worth $3,662 at KS's 15.26¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 27 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Ford County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Ford County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.8 m/s at the hub against 6.58 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,416 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,400, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 21¢/kWh, 1.4 times what KS pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.8 m/s instead of 6.58. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of KS
Ford County is the 126th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in KS is Edwards County at 6.68 m/s, payback 27 years.
Month by month in Ford County
April is the strongest month here, at 7.42 m/s and about 2,467 kWh. August is the weakest, 5.82 m/s and 1,561 kWh, so the best month makes 1.6 times the worst. November to March brings in 41% of the year's output in Ford County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.30 m/s | 1,860 kWh | $284 |
| February | 6.49 m/s | 1,791 kWh | $273 |
| March | 6.94 m/s | 2,260 kWh | $345 |
| April | 7.42 m/s | 2,467 kWh | $376 |
| May | 6.78 m/s | 2,162 kWh | $330 |
| June | 6.82 m/s | 2,119 kWh | $323 |
| July | 5.96 m/s | 1,651 kWh | $252 |
| August | 5.82 m/s | 1,561 kWh | $238 |
| September | 6.64 m/s | 2,011 kWh | $307 |
| October | 6.72 m/s | 2,123 kWh | $324 |
| November | 6.70 m/s | 2,044 kWh | $312 |
| December | 6.40 m/s | 1,927 kWh | $294 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Ford County averages 5.19 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.35 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.216, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 19,928 to 29,506 kWh a year, 48% 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 | 6.03 m/s | 19,928 kWh | 33 years |
| 30 m | 6.58 m/s | 24,011 kWh | 27 years |
| 40 m | 7 m/s | 27,073 kWh | 24 years |
| 50 m | 7.35 m/s | 29,506 kWh | 22 years |
Counties around Ford County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Edwards County, averages 6.68 m/s.
- Hodgeman County, KS: 6.66 m/s, 24,582 kWh, payback 27 years (28 mi)
- Gray County, KS: 6.52 m/s, 23,554 kWh, payback 28 years (31 mi)
- Clark County, KS: 6.46 m/s, 23,112 kWh, payback 28 years (32 mi)
- Kiowa County, KS: 6.6 m/s, 24,142 kWh, payback 27 years (34 mi)
- Edwards County, KS: 6.68 m/s, 24,728 kWh, payback 27 years (34 mi)
- Meade County, KS: 6.52 m/s, 23,554 kWh, payback 28 years (40 mi)
Sun versus wind in Ford County
Ford County gets 4.85 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,416 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,400. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.7 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.