Wind Turbine Payback in Hill County, TX
Wind turbine payback in Hill 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 Hill County, TX averages 5.62 m/s (12.6 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 16,907 kWh a year, worth $2,710 at TX's 16.03¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 37 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Hill County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Hill County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.6 m/s at the hub against 5.62 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,405 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,691, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 30¢/kWh, 1.8 times what TX pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.6 m/s instead of 5.62. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of TX
Hill County is the 1,155th 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 Hill County
April is the strongest month here, at 6.49 m/s and about 1,916 kWh. September is the weakest, 4.60 m/s and 815 kWh, so the best month makes 2.4 times the worst. November to March brings in 50% of the year's output in Hill County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.04 m/s | 1,696 kWh | $272 |
| February | 6.24 m/s | 1,648 kWh | $264 |
| March | 6.38 m/s | 1,913 kWh | $307 |
| April | 6.49 m/s | 1,916 kWh | $307 |
| May | 5.83 m/s | 1,568 kWh | $251 |
| June | 5.25 m/s | 1,171 kWh | $188 |
| July | 4.81 m/s | 956 kWh | $153 |
| August | 4.56 m/s | 824 kWh | $132 |
| September | 4.60 m/s | 815 kWh | $131 |
| October | 5.43 m/s | 1,322 kWh | $212 |
| November | 5.94 m/s | 1,582 kWh | $254 |
| December | 5.96 m/s | 1,646 kWh | $264 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Hill County averages 4.31 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.36 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.242, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 13,182 to 22,373 kWh a year, 70% 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 | 5.1 m/s | 13,182 kWh | 47 years |
| 30 m | 5.62 m/s | 16,910 kWh | 37 years |
| 40 m | 6.03 m/s | 19,894 kWh | 31 years |
| 50 m | 6.36 m/s | 22,373 kWh | 28 years |
Counties around Hill County
5 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Johnson County, averages 5.79 m/s.
- McLennan County, TX: 5.69 m/s, 17,419 kWh, payback 36 years (30 mi)
- Bosque County, TX: 5.75 m/s, 17,859 kWh, payback 35 years (30 mi)
- Johnson County, TX: 5.79 m/s, 18,153 kWh, payback 34 years (31 mi)
- Ellis County, TX: 5.68 m/s, 17,345 kWh, payback 36 years (32 mi)
- Navarro County, TX: 5.54 m/s, 16,326 kWh, payback 38 years (39 mi)
- Somervell County, TX: 5.75 m/s, 17,859 kWh, payback 35 years (41 mi)
Sun versus wind in Hill County
Hill County gets 4.81 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,405 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,691. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.2 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.