Wind Turbine Payback in Idaho County, ID
Wind turbine payback in Idaho 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 Idaho County, ID averages 2.77 m/s (6.2 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 1,970 kWh a year, worth $256 at ID's 13.02¢/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 Idaho County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Idaho County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.7 m/s at the hub against 2.77 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,200 kWh a year here against the turbine's 197, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 254¢/kWh, 19.5 times what ID pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.7 m/s instead of 2.77. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of ID
Idaho County is the 3,126th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in ID is Owyhee County at 5.38 m/s, payback 51 years.
Month by month in Idaho County
January is the strongest month here, at 3.27 m/s and about 296 kWh. July is the weakest, 2.26 m/s and 76 kWh, so the best month makes 3.9 times the worst. November to March brings in 61% of the year's output in Idaho County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.27 m/s | 296 kWh | $39 |
| February | 3.08 m/s | 217 kWh | $28 |
| March | 3.07 m/s | 238 kWh | $31 |
| April | 2.77 m/s | 162 kWh | $21 |
| May | 2.46 m/s | 109 kWh | $14 |
| June | 2.35 m/s | 87 kWh | $11 |
| July | 2.26 m/s | 76 kWh | $10 |
| August | 2.37 m/s | 92 kWh | $12 |
| September | 2.50 m/s | 111 kWh | $14 |
| October | 2.81 m/s | 176 kWh | $23 |
| November | 3.14 m/s | 250 kWh | $33 |
| December | 3.19 m/s | 272 kWh | $35 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Idaho County averages 1.84 m/s; at 50 m it is 3.35 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.372, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 1,120 to 3,757 kWh a year, 235% 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 | 2.38 m/s | 1,120 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 2.77 m/s | 1,971 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 3.08 m/s | 2,854 kWh | over 100 years |
| 50 m | 3.35 m/s | 3,757 kWh | over 100 years |
Counties around Idaho County
4 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Nez Perce County, averages 3.94 m/s.
- Lewis County, ID: 3.33 m/s, 3,684 kWh, payback over 100 years (53 mi)
- Clearwater County, ID: 2.58 m/s, 1,521 kWh, payback over 100 years (58 mi)
- Ravalli County, MT: 2.71 m/s, 1,821 kWh, payback over 100 years (67 mi)
- Valley County, ID: 2.82 m/s, 2,099 kWh, payback over 100 years (69 mi)
- Nez Perce County, ID: 3.94 m/s, 6,280 kWh, payback over 100 years (70 mi)
- Adams County, ID: 2.96 m/s, 2,484 kWh, payback over 100 years (83 mi)
Sun versus wind in Idaho County
Idaho County gets 4.11 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,200 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 197. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 6.1 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.