Wind Turbine Payback in Iberville Parish, LA
Wind turbine payback in Iberville Parish
No. The turbine wears out before it pays for itself.
At 30 m, the height a home turbine tower usually reaches, the wind in Iberville Parish, LA averages 4.13 m/s (9.2 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 7,248 kWh a year, worth $962 at LA's 13.27¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of over 100 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Iberville Parish
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Iberville Parish unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.6 m/s at the hub against 4.13 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,364 kWh a year here against the turbine's 725, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 69¢/kWh, 5.2 times what LA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.6 m/s instead of 4.13. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of LA
Iberville Parish is the 1,981st windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in LA is Iberia Parish at 5.86 m/s, payback 40 years.
Month by month in Iberville Parish
March is the strongest month here, at 4.75 m/s and about 927 kWh. July is the weakest, 3.10 m/s and 246 kWh, so the best month makes 3.8 times the worst. November to March brings in 57% of the year's output in Iberville Parish.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.71 m/s | 904 kWh | $120 |
| February | 4.82 m/s | 871 kWh | $116 |
| March | 4.75 m/s | 927 kWh | $123 |
| April | 4.76 m/s | 902 kWh | $120 |
| May | 4.10 m/s | 602 kWh | $80 |
| June | 3.42 m/s | 330 kWh | $44 |
| July | 3.10 m/s | 246 kWh | $33 |
| August | 3.13 m/s | 255 kWh | $34 |
| September | 3.60 m/s | 388 kWh | $51 |
| October | 4.11 m/s | 606 kWh | $80 |
| November | 4.47 m/s | 755 kWh | $100 |
| December | 4.65 m/s | 872 kWh | $116 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Iberville Parish averages 2.92 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.86 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.317, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 4,883 to 11,603 kWh a year, 138% 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 | 3.63 m/s | 4,883 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 4.13 m/s | 7,266 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 4.53 m/s | 9,508 kWh | 79 years |
| 50 m | 4.86 m/s | 11,603 kWh | 65 years |
Counties around Iberville Parish
4 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, St. Martin Parish, averages 5.19 m/s.
- West Baton Rouge Parish, LA: 4.13 m/s, 7,248 kWh, payback over 100 years (14 mi)
- St. Martin Parish, LA: 5.19 m/s, 13,837 kWh, payback 55 years (18 mi)
- East Baton Rouge Parish, LA: 4.13 m/s, 7,248 kWh, payback over 100 years (25 mi)
- Ascension Parish, LA: 4.7 m/s, 10,571 kWh, payback 71 years (27 mi)
- Assumption Parish, LA: 4.84 m/s, 11,472 kWh, payback 66 years (31 mi)
- Pointe Coupee Parish, LA: 4.77 m/s, 11,018 kWh, payback 68 years (33 mi)
Sun versus wind in Iberville Parish
Iberville Parish gets 4.67 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,364 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 725. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.9 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.