Wind Turbine Payback in Guadalupe County, TX
Wind turbine payback in Guadalupe 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 Guadalupe County, TX averages 5.35 m/s (12 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 14,963 kWh a year, worth $2,399 at TX's 16.03¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 42 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Guadalupe County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Guadalupe County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.6 m/s at the hub against 5.35 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,402 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,496, 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 5.35. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of TX
Guadalupe County is the 1,303rd 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 Guadalupe County
April is the strongest month here, at 6.00 m/s and about 1,617 kWh. September is the weakest, 4.54 m/s and 788 kWh, so the best month makes 2.1 times the worst. November to March brings in 48% of the year's output in Guadalupe County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.62 m/s | 1,438 kWh | $231 |
| February | 5.78 m/s | 1,388 kWh | $222 |
| March | 5.89 m/s | 1,604 kWh | $257 |
| April | 6.00 m/s | 1,617 kWh | $259 |
| May | 5.71 m/s | 1,493 kWh | $239 |
| June | 5.08 m/s | 1,076 kWh | $172 |
| July | 4.74 m/s | 917 kWh | $147 |
| August | 4.53 m/s | 810 kWh | $130 |
| September | 4.54 m/s | 788 kWh | $126 |
| October | 5.14 m/s | 1,148 kWh | $184 |
| November | 5.53 m/s | 1,338 kWh | $214 |
| December | 5.60 m/s | 1,421 kWh | $228 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Guadalupe County averages 4.13 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.03 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 11,615 to 19,926 kWh a year, 72% 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 | 4.86 m/s | 11,615 kWh | 54 years |
| 30 m | 5.35 m/s | 14,948 kWh | 42 years |
| 40 m | 5.72 m/s | 17,653 kWh | 35 years |
| 50 m | 6.03 m/s | 19,926 kWh | 31 years |
Counties around Guadalupe County
6 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Comal County, averages 5.56 m/s.
- Comal County, TX: 5.56 m/s, 16,471 kWh, payback 38 years (24 mi)
- Caldwell County, TX: 5.43 m/s, 15,534 kWh, payback 40 years (26 mi)
- Gonzales County, TX: 5.38 m/s, 15,176 kWh, payback 41 years (29 mi)
- Wilson County, TX: 5.39 m/s, 15,247 kWh, payback 41 years (29 mi)
- Hays County, TX: 5.56 m/s, 16,471 kWh, payback 38 years (33 mi)
- Bexar County, TX: 5.38 m/s, 15,176 kWh, payback 41 years (36 mi)
Sun versus wind in Guadalupe County
Guadalupe 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 1,496. 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.