Wind Turbine Payback in Hockley County, TX
Wind turbine payback in Hockley 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 Hockley County, TX averages 6.2 m/s (13.9 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 21,187 kWh a year, worth $3,396 at TX's 16.03¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 29 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Hockley County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Hockley County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.6 m/s at the hub against 6.2 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,609 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,119, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 24¢/kWh, 1.5 times what TX pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.6 m/s instead of 6.2. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of TX
Hockley County is the 588th 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 Hockley County
April is the strongest month here, at 7.17 m/s and about 2,322 kWh. August is the weakest, 5.26 m/s and 1,215 kWh, so the best month makes 1.9 times the worst. November to March brings in 45% of the year's output in Hockley County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.30 m/s | 1,861 kWh | $298 |
| February | 6.53 m/s | 1,812 kWh | $290 |
| March | 6.70 m/s | 2,112 kWh | $339 |
| April | 7.17 m/s | 2,322 kWh | $372 |
| May | 6.53 m/s | 2,007 kWh | $322 |
| June | 6.31 m/s | 1,807 kWh | $290 |
| July | 5.47 m/s | 1,344 kWh | $215 |
| August | 5.26 m/s | 1,215 kWh | $195 |
| September | 5.47 m/s | 1,301 kWh | $209 |
| October | 6.06 m/s | 1,710 kWh | $274 |
| November | 6.30 m/s | 1,801 kWh | $289 |
| December | 6.35 m/s | 1,895 kWh | $304 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Hockley County averages 4.82 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.97 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.229, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 17,131 to 26,828 kWh a year, 57% 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 | 5.65 m/s | 17,131 kWh | 36 years |
| 30 m | 6.2 m/s | 21,191 kWh | 29 years |
| 40 m | 6.62 m/s | 24,309 kWh | 26 years |
| 50 m | 6.97 m/s | 26,828 kWh | 23 years |
Counties around Hockley County
4 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Lubbock County, averages 6.3 m/s.
- Cochran County, TX: 6.28 m/s, 21,781 kWh, payback 29 years (28 mi)
- Terry County, TX: 6.14 m/s, 20,742 kWh, payback 30 years (30 mi)
- Lubbock County, TX: 6.3 m/s, 21,929 kWh, payback 28 years (30 mi)
- Lamb County, TX: 6.22 m/s, 21,336 kWh, payback 29 years (32 mi)
- Yoakum County, TX: 6.16 m/s, 20,891 kWh, payback 30 years (42 mi)
- Lynn County, TX: 6.23 m/s, 21,410 kWh, payback 29 years (42 mi)
Sun versus wind in Hockley County
Hockley County gets 5.51 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,609 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,119. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.3 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.