Wind Turbine Payback in Glenn County, CA
Wind turbine payback in Glenn 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 Glenn County, CA averages 3.8 m/s (8.5 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 5,614 kWh a year, worth $1,829 at CA's 32.58¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 55 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Glenn County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Glenn County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 5.4 m/s at the hub against 3.8 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,504 kWh a year here against the turbine's 561, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 89¢/kWh, 2.7 times what CA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 5.4 m/s instead of 3.8. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of CA
Glenn County is the 2,206th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in CA is San Francisco County at 6.53 m/s, payback 13 years.
Month by month in Glenn County
December is the strongest month here, at 4.35 m/s and about 718 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.83 m/s and 180 kWh, so the best month makes 4.0 times the worst. November to March brings in 54% of the year's output in Glenn County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.04 m/s | 577 kWh | $188 |
| February | 4.39 m/s | 668 kWh | $218 |
| March | 4.26 m/s | 676 kWh | $220 |
| April | 4.06 m/s | 566 kWh | $184 |
| May | 3.77 m/s | 465 kWh | $151 |
| June | 3.69 m/s | 421 kWh | $137 |
| July | 2.93 m/s | 203 kWh | $66 |
| August | 2.83 m/s | 180 kWh | $59 |
| September | 3.36 m/s | 311 kWh | $101 |
| October | 4.01 m/s | 562 kWh | $183 |
| November | 4.04 m/s | 558 kWh | $182 |
| December | 4.35 m/s | 718 kWh | $234 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Glenn County averages 2.88 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.33 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.253, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 4,072 to 8,346 kWh a year, 105% 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 | 3.43 m/s | 4,072 kWh | 75 years |
| 30 m | 3.81 m/s | 5,638 kWh | 54 years |
| 40 m | 4.09 m/s | 7,050 kWh | 44 years |
| 50 m | 4.33 m/s | 8,346 kWh | 37 years |
Counties around Glenn County
6 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Butte County, averages 4.25 m/s.
- Colusa County, CA: 3.92 m/s, 6,182 kWh, payback 50 years (31 mi)
- Tehama County, CA: 3.89 m/s, 6,037 kWh, payback 51 years (37 mi)
- Lake County, CA: 3.92 m/s, 6,182 kWh, payback 50 years (39 mi)
- Butte County, CA: 4.25 m/s, 7,897 kWh, payback 39 years (43 mi)
- Sutter County, CA: 3.93 m/s, 6,231 kWh, payback 49 years (54 mi)
- Mendocino County, CA: 3.87 m/s, 5,942 kWh, payback 52 years (57 mi)
Sun versus wind in Glenn County
Glenn County gets 5.15 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,504 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 561. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 2.7 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.