Wind Turbine Payback in Highlands County, FL
Wind turbine payback in Highlands 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 Highlands County, FL averages 4.47 m/s (10 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 9,160 kWh a year, worth $1,403 at FL's 15.32¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 71 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Highlands County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Highlands County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.8 m/s at the hub against 4.47 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,463 kWh a year here against the turbine's 916, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 55¢/kWh, 3.6 times what FL pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.8 m/s instead of 4.47. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of FL
Highlands County is the 1,760th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in FL is Brevard County at 5.62 m/s, payback 39 years.
Month by month in Highlands County
March is the strongest month here, at 5.20 m/s and about 1,181 kWh. July is the weakest, 3.14 m/s and 258 kWh, so the best month makes 4.6 times the worst. November to March brings in 56% of the year's output in Highlands County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.16 m/s | 1,155 kWh | $177 |
| February | 4.99 m/s | 957 kWh | $147 |
| March | 5.20 m/s | 1,181 kWh | $181 |
| April | 4.92 m/s | 987 kWh | $151 |
| May | 4.42 m/s | 755 kWh | $116 |
| June | 3.53 m/s | 367 kWh | $56 |
| July | 3.14 m/s | 258 kWh | $40 |
| August | 3.36 m/s | 322 kWh | $49 |
| September | 4.03 m/s | 553 kWh | $85 |
| October | 4.80 m/s | 952 kWh | $146 |
| November | 5.08 m/s | 1,074 kWh | $165 |
| December | 5.03 m/s | 1,079 kWh | $165 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Highlands County averages 3.33 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.12 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.267, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 6,622 to 13,353 kWh a year, 102% 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 | 4.01 m/s | 6,622 kWh | 99 years |
| 30 m | 4.47 m/s | 9,143 kWh | 71 years |
| 40 m | 4.82 m/s | 11,367 kWh | 57 years |
| 50 m | 5.12 m/s | 13,353 kWh | 49 years |
Counties around Highlands County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Okeechobee County, averages 4.78 m/s.
- Okeechobee County, FL: 4.78 m/s, 11,082 kWh, payback 59 years (28 mi)
- Glades County, FL: 4.38 m/s, 8,632 kWh, payback 76 years (28 mi)
- DeSoto County, FL: 4.34 m/s, 8,403 kWh, payback 78 years (30 mi)
- Hardee County, FL: 4.37 m/s, 8,575 kWh, payback 76 years (31 mi)
- Polk County, FL: 4.44 m/s, 8,982 kWh, payback 73 years (47 mi)
- Charlotte County, FL: 4.34 m/s, 8,403 kWh, payback 78 years (51 mi)
Sun versus wind in Highlands County
Highlands County gets 5.01 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,463 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 916. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.6 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.