Wind Turbine Payback in Gonzales County, TX
Wind turbine payback in Gonzales 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 Gonzales County, TX averages 5.38 m/s (12 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 15,176 kWh a year, worth $2,433 at TX's 16.03¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 41 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Gonzales County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Gonzales County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.6 m/s at the hub against 5.38 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,402 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,518, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 33¢/kWh, 2.1 times what TX pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.6 m/s instead of 5.38. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of TX
Gonzales County is the 1,292nd 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 Gonzales County
April is the strongest month here, at 6.10 m/s and about 1,682 kWh. August is the weakest, 4.47 m/s and 778 kWh, so the best month makes 2.2 times the worst. November to March brings in 49% of the year's output in Gonzales County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.71 m/s | 1,493 kWh | $239 |
| February | 5.92 m/s | 1,464 kWh | $235 |
| March | 5.99 m/s | 1,665 kWh | $267 |
| April | 6.10 m/s | 1,682 kWh | $270 |
| May | 5.77 m/s | 1,531 kWh | $245 |
| June | 5.03 m/s | 1,046 kWh | $168 |
| July | 4.70 m/s | 898 kWh | $144 |
| August | 4.47 m/s | 778 kWh | $125 |
| September | 4.52 m/s | 779 kWh | $125 |
| October | 5.15 m/s | 1,153 kWh | $185 |
| November | 5.59 m/s | 1,370 kWh | $220 |
| December | 5.68 m/s | 1,476 kWh | $237 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Gonzales County averages 4.16 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.07 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.235, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 11,827 to 20,223 kWh a year, 71% 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 | 4.89 m/s | 11,827 kWh | 53 years |
| 30 m | 5.38 m/s | 15,200 kWh | 41 years |
| 40 m | 5.76 m/s | 17,931 kWh | 35 years |
| 50 m | 6.07 m/s | 20,223 kWh | 31 years |
Counties around Gonzales County
4 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, DeWitt County, averages 5.46 m/s.
- Caldwell County, TX: 5.43 m/s, 15,534 kWh, payback 40 years (27 mi)
- DeWitt County, TX: 5.46 m/s, 15,749 kWh, payback 40 years (27 mi)
- Guadalupe County, TX: 5.35 m/s, 14,963 kWh, payback 42 years (29 mi)
- Lavaca County, TX: 5.36 m/s, 15,034 kWh, payback 42 years (35 mi)
- Wilson County, TX: 5.39 m/s, 15,247 kWh, payback 41 years (41 mi)
- Karnes County, TX: 5.39 m/s, 15,247 kWh, payback 41 years (44 mi)
Sun versus wind in Gonzales County
Gonzales County gets 4.8 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,402 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,518. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.1 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.