Wind Turbine Payback in Golden Valley County, MT
Wind turbine payback in Golden Valley 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 Golden Valley County, MT averages 6 m/s (13.4 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 19,704 kWh a year, worth $2,784 at MT's 14.13¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 36 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Golden Valley County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Golden Valley County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.2 m/s at the hub against 6 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,183 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,970, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 25¢/kWh, 1.8 times what MT pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.2 m/s instead of 6. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of MT
Golden Valley County is the 840th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in MT is Fallon County at 6.64 m/s, payback 29 years.
Month by month in Golden Valley County
January is the strongest month here, at 7.59 m/s and about 2,645 kWh. July is the weakest, 4.64 m/s and 866 kWh, so the best month makes 3.1 times the worst. November to March brings in 55% of the year's output in Golden Valley County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.59 m/s | 2,645 kWh | $374 |
| February | 6.59 m/s | 1,845 kWh | $261 |
| March | 6.30 m/s | 1,860 kWh | $263 |
| April | 5.89 m/s | 1,552 kWh | $219 |
| May | 5.45 m/s | 1,329 kWh | $188 |
| June | 5.10 m/s | 1,087 kWh | $154 |
| July | 4.64 m/s | 866 kWh | $122 |
| August | 4.73 m/s | 913 kWh | $129 |
| September | 5.30 m/s | 1,198 kWh | $169 |
| October | 6.33 m/s | 1,882 kWh | $266 |
| November | 7.03 m/s | 2,241 kWh | $317 |
| December | 7.16 m/s | 2,390 kWh | $338 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Golden Valley County averages 4.62 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.78 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.238, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 15,688 to 25,457 kWh a year, 62% 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 | 5.45 m/s | 15,688 kWh | 45 years |
| 30 m | 6 m/s | 19,733 kWh | 36 years |
| 40 m | 6.43 m/s | 22,886 kWh | 31 years |
| 50 m | 6.78 m/s | 25,457 kWh | 28 years |
Counties around Golden Valley County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Fergus County, averages 6.18 m/s.
- Wheatland County, MT: 5.89 m/s, 18,890 kWh, payback 38 years (34 mi)
- Musselshell County, MT: 5.95 m/s, 19,334 kWh, payback 37 years (36 mi)
- Stillwater County, MT: 5.8 m/s, 18,226 kWh, payback 39 years (51 mi)
- Yellowstone County, MT: 5.74 m/s, 17,785 kWh, payback 40 years (53 mi)
- Sweet Grass County, MT: 5.94 m/s, 19,260 kWh, payback 37 years (54 mi)
- Fergus County, MT: 6.18 m/s, 21,039 kWh, payback 34 years (58 mi)
Sun versus wind in Golden Valley County
Golden Valley County gets 4.05 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,183 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,970. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.7 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.