Wind Turbine Payback in Jackson County, MN
Wind turbine payback in Jackson 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 Jackson County, MN averages 6.59 m/s (14.7 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 24,069 kWh a year, worth $3,957 at MN's 16.44¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 25 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Jackson County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Jackson County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.5 m/s at the hub against 6.59 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,188 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,407, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 21¢/kWh, 1.3 times what MN pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.5 m/s instead of 6.59. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of MN
Jackson County is the 119th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in MN is Lincoln County at 6.68 m/s, payback 25 years.
Month by month in Jackson County
April is the strongest month here, at 7.40 m/s and about 2,452 kWh. August is the weakest, 5.36 m/s and 1,275 kWh, so the best month makes 1.9 times the worst. November to March brings in 46% of the year's output in Jackson County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.96 m/s | 2,270 kWh | $373 |
| February | 6.95 m/s | 2,046 kWh | $336 |
| March | 7.06 m/s | 2,330 kWh | $383 |
| April | 7.40 m/s | 2,452 kWh | $403 |
| May | 6.79 m/s | 2,171 kWh | $357 |
| June | 6.10 m/s | 1,682 kWh | $277 |
| July | 5.37 m/s | 1,280 kWh | $210 |
| August | 5.36 m/s | 1,275 kWh | $210 |
| September | 6.44 m/s | 1,890 kWh | $311 |
| October | 6.90 m/s | 2,237 kWh | $368 |
| November | 7.01 m/s | 2,229 kWh | $366 |
| December | 6.81 m/s | 2,182 kWh | $359 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Jackson County averages 5.24 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.33 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.209, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 20,093 to 29,368 kWh a year, 46% 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 | 6.05 m/s | 20,093 kWh | 30 years |
| 30 m | 6.59 m/s | 24,053 kWh | 25 years |
| 40 m | 7 m/s | 27,014 kWh | 23 years |
| 50 m | 7.33 m/s | 29,368 kWh | 21 years |
Counties around Jackson County
None of the 6 closest counties is windier than Jackson County.
- Dickinson County, IA: 6.59 m/s, 24,069 kWh, payback 29 years (20 mi)
- Cottonwood County, MN: 6.53 m/s, 23,628 kWh, payback 26 years (24 mi)
- Martin County, MN: 6.5 m/s, 23,407 kWh, payback 26 years (30 mi)
- Nobles County, MN: 6.57 m/s, 23,922 kWh, payback 25 years (31 mi)
- Emmet County, IA: 6.5 m/s, 23,407 kWh, payback 29 years (31 mi)
- Osceola County, IA: 6.57 m/s, 23,922 kWh, payback 29 years (32 mi)
Sun versus wind in Jackson County
Jackson County gets 4.07 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,188 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,407. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 2.0 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.