Wind Turbine Payback in Garza County, TX
Wind turbine payback in Garza 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 Garza County, TX averages 6.18 m/s (13.8 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 21,039 kWh a year, worth $3,373 at TX's 16.03¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 30 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Garza County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Garza County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.6 m/s at the hub against 6.18 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,562 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,104, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 24¢/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 6.18. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of TX
Garza County is the 599th 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 Garza County
April is the strongest month here, at 7.11 m/s and about 2,286 kWh. August is the weakest, 5.31 m/s and 1,245 kWh, so the best month makes 1.8 times the worst. November to March brings in 44% of the year's output in Garza County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.23 m/s | 1,821 kWh | $292 |
| February | 6.42 m/s | 1,751 kWh | $281 |
| March | 6.72 m/s | 2,122 kWh | $340 |
| April | 7.11 m/s | 2,286 kWh | $366 |
| May | 6.52 m/s | 2,000 kWh | $321 |
| June | 6.31 m/s | 1,806 kWh | $290 |
| July | 5.53 m/s | 1,380 kWh | $221 |
| August | 5.31 m/s | 1,245 kWh | $200 |
| September | 5.42 m/s | 1,272 kWh | $204 |
| October | 6.10 m/s | 1,737 kWh | $278 |
| November | 6.31 m/s | 1,806 kWh | $290 |
| December | 6.24 m/s | 1,827 kWh | $293 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Garza County averages 4.83 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.93 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.224, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 17,083 to 26,541 kWh a year, 55% 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 | 5.64 m/s | 17,083 kWh | 37 years |
| 30 m | 6.18 m/s | 21,044 kWh | 30 years |
| 40 m | 6.59 m/s | 24,085 kWh | 26 years |
| 50 m | 6.93 m/s | 26,541 kWh | 24 years |
Counties around Garza County
6 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Scurry County, averages 6.33 m/s.
- Crosby County, TX: 6.28 m/s, 21,781 kWh, payback 29 years (29 mi)
- Lynn County, TX: 6.23 m/s, 21,410 kWh, payback 29 years (30 mi)
- Kent County, TX: 6.23 m/s, 21,410 kWh, payback 29 years (31 mi)
- Borden County, TX: 6.24 m/s, 21,484 kWh, payback 29 years (32 mi)
- Scurry County, TX: 6.33 m/s, 22,151 kWh, payback 28 years (38 mi)
- Dickens County, TX: 6.23 m/s, 21,410 kWh, payback 29 years (42 mi)
Sun versus wind in Garza County
Garza County gets 5.35 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,562 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,104. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.3 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.