Wind Turbine Payback in Gosper County, NE
Wind turbine payback in Gosper 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 Gosper County, NE averages 6.37 m/s (14.2 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 22,447 kWh a year, worth $2,900 at NE's 12.92¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 35 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Gosper County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Gosper County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.8 m/s at the hub against 6.37 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,323 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,245, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 22¢/kWh, 1.7 times what NE pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.8 m/s instead of 6.37. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of NE
Gosper County is the 380th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in NE is Cherry County at 6.83 m/s, payback 30 years.
Month by month in Gosper County
April is the strongest month here, at 7.20 m/s and about 2,338 kWh. August is the weakest, 5.48 m/s and 1,351 kWh, so the best month makes 1.7 times the worst. November to March brings in 43% of the year's output in Gosper County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.41 m/s | 1,932 kWh | $250 |
| February | 6.49 m/s | 1,791 kWh | $231 |
| March | 6.79 m/s | 2,166 kWh | $280 |
| April | 7.20 m/s | 2,338 kWh | $302 |
| May | 6.55 m/s | 2,016 kWh | $260 |
| June | 6.17 m/s | 1,723 kWh | $223 |
| July | 5.56 m/s | 1,400 kWh | $181 |
| August | 5.48 m/s | 1,351 kWh | $175 |
| September | 6.39 m/s | 1,859 kWh | $240 |
| October | 6.63 m/s | 2,072 kWh | $268 |
| November | 6.53 m/s | 1,940 kWh | $251 |
| December | 6.36 m/s | 1,899 kWh | $245 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Gosper County averages 5.01 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.13 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.219, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 18,474 to 27,967 kWh a year, 51% 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 | 5.83 m/s | 18,474 kWh | 42 years |
| 30 m | 6.38 m/s | 22,487 kWh | 34 years |
| 40 m | 6.79 m/s | 25,529 kWh | 30 years |
| 50 m | 7.13 m/s | 27,967 kWh | 28 years |
Counties around Gosper County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Dawson County, averages 6.57 m/s.
- Phelps County, NE: 6.49 m/s, 23,333 kWh, payback 33 years (22 mi)
- Furnas County, NE: 6.31 m/s, 22,003 kWh, payback 35 years (22 mi)
- Dawson County, NE: 6.57 m/s, 23,922 kWh, payback 32 years (25 mi)
- Frontier County, NE: 6.31 m/s, 22,003 kWh, payback 35 years (31 mi)
- Harlan County, NE: 6.34 m/s, 22,225 kWh, payback 35 years (32 mi)
- Red Willow County, NE: 6.29 m/s, 21,855 kWh, payback 35 years (41 mi)
Sun versus wind in Gosper County
Gosper County gets 4.53 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,323 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,245. 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.