Wind Turbine Payback in Harmon County, OK
Wind turbine payback in Harmon 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 Harmon County, OK averages 6.04 m/s (13.5 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 20,001 kWh a year, worth $2,762 at OK's 13.81¢/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 Harmon County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Harmon County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.4 m/s at the hub against 6.04 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,478 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,000, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 25¢/kWh, 1.8 times what OK pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.4 m/s instead of 6.04. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of OK
Harmon County is the 784th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in OK is Cimarron County at 6.82 m/s, payback 28 years.
Month by month in Harmon County
April is the strongest month here, at 6.99 m/s and about 2,219 kWh. August is the weakest, 5.23 m/s and 1,202 kWh, so the best month makes 1.8 times the worst. November to March brings in 42% of the year's output in Harmon County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.93 m/s | 1,628 kWh | $225 |
| February | 6.10 m/s | 1,566 kWh | $216 |
| March | 6.44 m/s | 1,952 kWh | $270 |
| April | 6.99 m/s | 2,219 kWh | $306 |
| May | 6.40 m/s | 1,924 kWh | $266 |
| June | 6.27 m/s | 1,781 kWh | $246 |
| July | 5.48 m/s | 1,352 kWh | $187 |
| August | 5.23 m/s | 1,202 kWh | $166 |
| September | 5.52 m/s | 1,329 kWh | $184 |
| October | 6.11 m/s | 1,740 kWh | $240 |
| November | 6.21 m/s | 1,749 kWh | $242 |
| December | 5.90 m/s | 1,611 kWh | $222 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Harmon County averages 4.69 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.8 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.231, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 16,057 to 25,602 kWh a year, 59% 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 | 5.5 m/s | 16,057 kWh | 45 years |
| 30 m | 6.04 m/s | 20,024 kWh | 36 years |
| 40 m | 6.46 m/s | 23,100 kWh | 31 years |
| 50 m | 6.8 m/s | 25,602 kWh | 28 years |
Counties around Harmon County
4 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Beckham County, averages 6.56 m/s.
- Greer County, OK: 6.23 m/s, 21,410 kWh, payback 34 years (21 mi)
- Childress County, TX: 6.04 m/s, 20,001 kWh, payback 31 years (26 mi)
- Jackson County, OK: 6.07 m/s, 20,223 kWh, payback 36 years (27 mi)
- Collingsworth County, TX: 6.22 m/s, 21,336 kWh, payback 29 years (29 mi)
- Hardeman County, TX: 6.04 m/s, 20,001 kWh, payback 31 years (32 mi)
- Beckham County, OK: 6.56 m/s, 23,849 kWh, payback 30 years (37 mi)
Sun versus wind in Harmon County
Harmon County gets 5.06 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,478 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,000. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.4 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.