Wind Turbine Payback in Frontier County, NE
Wind turbine payback in Frontier 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 Frontier County, NE averages 6.31 m/s (14.1 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 22,003 kWh a year, worth $2,843 at NE's 12.92¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 35 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Frontier County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Frontier County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.8 m/s at the hub against 6.31 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,346 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,200, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 23¢/kWh, 1.8 times what NE pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.8 m/s instead of 6.31. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of NE
Frontier County is the 460th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in NE is Cherry County at 6.83 m/s, payback 30 years.
Month by month in Frontier County
April is the strongest month here, at 7.08 m/s and about 2,271 kWh. August is the weakest, 5.46 m/s and 1,340 kWh, so the best month makes 1.7 times the worst. November to March brings in 44% of the year's output in Frontier County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.41 m/s | 1,932 kWh | $250 |
| February | 6.46 m/s | 1,776 kWh | $229 |
| March | 6.69 m/s | 2,105 kWh | $272 |
| April | 7.08 m/s | 2,271 kWh | $293 |
| May | 6.45 m/s | 1,955 kWh | $253 |
| June | 6.04 m/s | 1,641 kWh | $212 |
| July | 5.54 m/s | 1,389 kWh | $179 |
| August | 5.46 m/s | 1,340 kWh | $173 |
| September | 6.25 m/s | 1,772 kWh | $229 |
| October | 6.55 m/s | 2,022 kWh | $261 |
| November | 6.49 m/s | 1,919 kWh | $248 |
| December | 6.37 m/s | 1,904 kWh | $246 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Frontier County averages 4.96 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.06 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.219, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 18,052 to 27,471 kWh a year, 52% 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 | 5.78 m/s | 18,052 kWh | 43 years |
| 30 m | 6.31 m/s | 22,023 kWh | 35 years |
| 40 m | 6.72 m/s | 25,044 kWh | 31 years |
| 50 m | 7.06 m/s | 27,471 kWh | 28 years |
Counties around Frontier County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Dawson County, averages 6.57 m/s.
- Red Willow County, NE: 6.29 m/s, 21,855 kWh, payback 35 years (25 mi)
- Gosper County, NE: 6.37 m/s, 22,447 kWh, payback 35 years (31 mi)
- Hayes County, NE: 6.27 m/s, 21,706 kWh, payback 36 years (34 mi)
- Furnas County, NE: 6.31 m/s, 22,003 kWh, payback 35 years (35 mi)
- Dawson County, NE: 6.57 m/s, 23,922 kWh, payback 32 years (39 mi)
- Lincoln County, NE: 6.5 m/s, 23,407 kWh, payback 33 years (40 mi)
Sun versus wind in Frontier County
Frontier County gets 4.61 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,346 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,200. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.6 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.