Wind Turbine Payback in Harris County, TX
Wind turbine payback in Harris 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 Harris County, TX averages 4.53 m/s (10.1 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 9,519 kWh a year, worth $1,526 at TX's 16.03¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 66 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Harris County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Harris County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.6 m/s at the hub against 4.53 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,358 kWh a year here against the turbine's 952, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 53¢/kWh, 3.3 times what TX pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.6 m/s instead of 4.53. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of TX
Harris County is the 1,731st 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 Harris County
April is the strongest month here, at 5.23 m/s and about 1,160 kWh. August is the weakest, 3.58 m/s and 394 kWh, so the best month makes 2.9 times the worst. November to March brings in 52% of the year's output in Harris County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.93 m/s | 1,024 kWh | $164 |
| February | 5.06 m/s | 991 kWh | $159 |
| March | 5.12 m/s | 1,133 kWh | $182 |
| April | 5.23 m/s | 1,160 kWh | $186 |
| May | 4.82 m/s | 961 kWh | $154 |
| June | 4.07 m/s | 569 kWh | $91 |
| July | 3.69 m/s | 435 kWh | $70 |
| August | 3.58 m/s | 394 kWh | $63 |
| September | 3.83 m/s | 472 kWh | $76 |
| October | 4.43 m/s | 758 kWh | $122 |
| November | 4.74 m/s | 889 kWh | $143 |
| December | 4.92 m/s | 1,019 kWh | $163 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Harris County averages 3.28 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.27 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.295, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 6,687 to 14,397 kWh a year, 115% 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 | 4.02 m/s | 6,687 kWh | 93 years |
| 30 m | 4.53 m/s | 9,536 kWh | 65 years |
| 40 m | 4.93 m/s | 12,094 kWh | 52 years |
| 50 m | 5.27 m/s | 14,397 kWh | 43 years |
Counties around Harris County
4 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Chambers County, averages 5.76 m/s.
- Montgomery County, TX: 3.83 m/s, 5,753 kWh, payback over 100 years (31 mi)
- Fort Bend County, TX: 5.16 m/s, 13,629 kWh, payback 46 years (32 mi)
- Waller County, TX: 5.09 m/s, 13,146 kWh, payback 48 years (37 mi)
- Liberty County, TX: 4.35 m/s, 8,460 kWh, payback 74 years (39 mi)
- Chambers County, TX: 5.76 m/s, 17,932 kWh, payback 35 years (45 mi)
- Brazoria County, TX: 5.56 m/s, 16,471 kWh, payback 38 years (48 mi)
Sun versus wind in Harris County
Harris County gets 4.65 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,358 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 952. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.4 times as much here as the turbine. 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.