Wind Turbine Payback in Hartley County, TX
Wind turbine payback in Hartley 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 Hartley County, TX averages 6.55 m/s (14.7 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 23,775 kWh a year, worth $3,811 at TX's 16.03¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 26 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Hartley County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Hartley County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.6 m/s at the hub against 6.55 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,574 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,378, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 21¢/kWh, 1.3 times what TX pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.6 m/s instead of 6.55. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of TX
Hartley County is the 151st 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 Hartley County
April is the strongest month here, at 7.41 m/s and about 2,457 kWh. August is the weakest, 5.59 m/s and 1,415 kWh, so the best month makes 1.7 times the worst. November to March brings in 44% of the year's output in Hartley County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.51 m/s | 1,991 kWh | $319 |
| February | 6.78 m/s | 1,954 kWh | $313 |
| March | 7.00 m/s | 2,294 kWh | $368 |
| April | 7.41 m/s | 2,457 kWh | $394 |
| May | 6.66 m/s | 2,086 kWh | $334 |
| June | 6.64 m/s | 2,008 kWh | $322 |
| July | 5.83 m/s | 1,565 kWh | $251 |
| August | 5.59 m/s | 1,415 kWh | $227 |
| September | 6.26 m/s | 1,775 kWh | $285 |
| October | 6.54 m/s | 2,014 kWh | $323 |
| November | 6.86 m/s | 2,141 kWh | $343 |
| December | 6.59 m/s | 2,047 kWh | $328 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Hartley County averages 5.13 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.34 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.223, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 19,582 to 29,437 kWh a year, 50% 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 | 5.98 m/s | 19,582 kWh | 32 years |
| 30 m | 6.55 m/s | 23,773 kWh | 26 years |
| 40 m | 6.98 m/s | 26,926 kWh | 23 years |
| 50 m | 7.34 m/s | 29,437 kWh | 21 years |
Counties around Hartley County
4 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Dallam County, averages 6.82 m/s.
- Oldham County, TX: 6.48 m/s, 23,260 kWh, payback 27 years (30 mi)
- Dallam County, TX: 6.82 m/s, 25,747 kWh, payback 24 years (31 mi)
- Moore County, TX: 6.58 m/s, 23,996 kWh, payback 26 years (40 mi)
- Sherman County, TX: 6.66 m/s, 24,582 kWh, payback 25 years (50 mi)
- Potter County, TX: 6.55 m/s, 23,775 kWh, payback 26 years (50 mi)
- Deaf Smith County, TX: 6.63 m/s, 24,362 kWh, payback 26 years (62 mi)
Sun versus wind in Hartley County
Hartley County gets 5.39 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,574 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,378. 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.