Wind Turbine Payback in Gila County, AZ
Wind turbine payback in Gila 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 Gila County, AZ averages 4.05 m/s (9.1 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 6,831 kWh a year, worth $1,049 at AZ's 15.36¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 95 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Gila County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Gila County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.8 m/s at the hub against 4.05 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,664 kWh a year here against the turbine's 683, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 73¢/kWh, 4.8 times what AZ pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.8 m/s instead of 4.05. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of AZ
Gila County is the 2,027th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in AZ is Apache County at 5.25 m/s, payback 46 years.
Month by month in Gila County
April is the strongest month here, at 4.67 m/s and about 853 kWh. August is the weakest, 3.01 m/s and 224 kWh, so the best month makes 3.8 times the worst. November to March brings in 48% of the year's output in Gila County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.37 m/s | 727 kWh | $112 |
| February | 4.36 m/s | 653 kWh | $100 |
| March | 4.35 m/s | 719 kWh | $110 |
| April | 4.67 m/s | 853 kWh | $131 |
| May | 4.35 m/s | 719 kWh | $110 |
| June | 4.15 m/s | 605 kWh | $93 |
| July | 3.16 m/s | 263 kWh | $40 |
| August | 3.01 m/s | 224 kWh | $34 |
| September | 3.62 m/s | 395 kWh | $61 |
| October | 4.09 m/s | 598 kWh | $92 |
| November | 4.23 m/s | 640 kWh | $98 |
| December | 4.26 m/s | 677 kWh | $104 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Gila County averages 2.95 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.69 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.288, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 4,745 to 10,508 kWh a year, 121% 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 | 3.6 m/s | 4,745 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 4.05 m/s | 6,823 kWh | 95 years |
| 40 m | 4.4 m/s | 8,737 kWh | 75 years |
| 50 m | 4.69 m/s | 10,508 kWh | 62 years |
Counties around Gila County
6 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Navajo County, averages 4.66 m/s.
- Pinal County, AZ: 4.22 m/s, 7,732 kWh, payback 84 years (68 mi)
- Graham County, AZ: 4.09 m/s, 7,038 kWh, payback 93 years (80 mi)
- Greenlee County, AZ: 4.17 m/s, 7,461 kWh, payback 87 years (98 mi)
- Maricopa County, AZ: 4.09 m/s, 7,038 kWh, payback 93 years (102 mi)
- Navajo County, AZ: 4.66 m/s, 10,320 kWh, payback 63 years (114 mi)
- Yavapai County, AZ: 4.44 m/s, 8,982 kWh, payback 73 years (116 mi)
Sun versus wind in Gila County
Gila County gets 5.7 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,664 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 683. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 2.4 times as much here as the turbine. 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.