Wind Turbine Payback in Hale County, TX
Wind turbine payback in Hale 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 Hale County, TX averages 6.37 m/s (14.2 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 22,447 kWh a year, worth $3,598 at TX's 16.03¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 28 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Hale County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Hale County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.6 m/s at the hub against 6.37 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,545 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, 1.4 times what TX pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.6 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 TX
Hale County is the 380th 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 Hale County
April is the strongest month here, at 7.35 m/s and about 2,425 kWh. August is the weakest, 5.37 m/s and 1,284 kWh, so the best month makes 1.9 times the worst. November to March brings in 45% of the year's output in Hale County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.42 m/s | 1,940 kWh | $311 |
| February | 6.66 m/s | 1,888 kWh | $303 |
| March | 6.87 m/s | 2,217 kWh | $355 |
| April | 7.35 m/s | 2,425 kWh | $389 |
| May | 6.66 m/s | 2,091 kWh | $335 |
| June | 6.44 m/s | 1,889 kWh | $303 |
| July | 5.58 m/s | 1,410 kWh | $226 |
| August | 5.37 m/s | 1,284 kWh | $206 |
| September | 5.66 m/s | 1,412 kWh | $226 |
| October | 6.33 m/s | 1,879 kWh | $301 |
| November | 6.57 m/s | 1,964 kWh | $315 |
| December | 6.51 m/s | 1,996 kWh | $320 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Hale County averages 4.97 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.15 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.226, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 18,319 to 28,109 kWh a year, 53% 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 | 5.81 m/s | 18,319 kWh | 34 years |
| 30 m | 6.37 m/s | 22,450 kWh | 28 years |
| 40 m | 6.8 m/s | 25,590 kWh | 24 years |
| 50 m | 7.15 m/s | 28,109 kWh | 22 years |
Counties around Hale County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Swisher County, averages 6.48 m/s.
- Floyd County, TX: 6.45 m/s, 23,038 kWh, payback 27 years (30 mi)
- Lamb County, TX: 6.22 m/s, 21,336 kWh, payback 29 years (30 mi)
- Lubbock County, TX: 6.3 m/s, 21,929 kWh, payback 28 years (32 mi)
- Swisher County, TX: 6.48 m/s, 23,260 kWh, payback 27 years (32 mi)
- Castro County, TX: 6.39 m/s, 22,595 kWh, payback 28 years (41 mi)
- Crosby County, TX: 6.28 m/s, 21,781 kWh, payback 29 years (44 mi)
Sun versus wind in Hale County
Hale County gets 5.29 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,545 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 1.5 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.