Wind Turbine Payback in Fort Bend County, TX
Wind turbine payback in Fort Bend 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 Fort Bend County, TX averages 5.16 m/s (11.5 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 13,629 kWh a year, worth $2,185 at TX's 16.03¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 46 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Fort Bend County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Fort Bend County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.6 m/s at the hub against 5.16 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,358 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,363, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 37¢/kWh, 2.3 times what TX pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.6 m/s instead of 5.16. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of TX
Fort Bend County is the 1,393rd 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 Fort Bend County
April is the strongest month here, at 5.92 m/s and about 1,569 kWh. August is the weakest, 4.01 m/s and 563 kWh, so the best month makes 2.8 times the worst. November to March brings in 52% of the year's output in Fort Bend County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.71 m/s | 1,489 kWh | $239 |
| February | 5.82 m/s | 1,410 kWh | $226 |
| March | 5.82 m/s | 1,561 kWh | $250 |
| April | 5.92 m/s | 1,569 kWh | $252 |
| May | 5.46 m/s | 1,338 kWh | $214 |
| June | 4.60 m/s | 817 kWh | $131 |
| July | 4.17 m/s | 633 kWh | $101 |
| August | 4.01 m/s | 563 kWh | $90 |
| September | 4.40 m/s | 717 kWh | $115 |
| October | 5.05 m/s | 1,091 kWh | $175 |
| November | 5.40 m/s | 1,258 kWh | $202 |
| December | 5.67 m/s | 1,468 kWh | $235 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Fort Bend County averages 3.91 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.87 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.252, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 10,318 to 18,742 kWh a year, 82% 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 | 4.66 m/s | 10,318 kWh | 61 years |
| 30 m | 5.16 m/s | 13,636 kWh | 46 years |
| 40 m | 5.55 m/s | 16,392 kWh | 38 years |
| 50 m | 5.87 m/s | 18,742 kWh | 33 years |
Counties around Fort Bend County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Brazoria County, averages 5.56 m/s.
- Brazoria County, TX: 5.56 m/s, 16,471 kWh, payback 38 years (32 mi)
- Harris County, TX: 4.53 m/s, 9,519 kWh, payback 66 years (32 mi)
- Wharton County, TX: 5.24 m/s, 14,186 kWh, payback 44 years (32 mi)
- Waller County, TX: 5.09 m/s, 13,146 kWh, payback 48 years (36 mi)
- Austin County, TX: 5.09 m/s, 13,146 kWh, payback 48 years (39 mi)
- Colorado County, TX: 5.24 m/s, 14,186 kWh, payback 44 years (45 mi)
Sun versus wind in Fort Bend County
Fort Bend County gets 4.65 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,358 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,363. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.0 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.