Wind Turbine Payback in Jackson County, OK
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, OK averages 6.07 m/s (13.6 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 20,223 kWh a year, worth $2,793 at OK's 13.81¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 36 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, 8.4 m/s at the hub against 6.07 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,478 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,022, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 25¢/kWh, 1.8 times what OK pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.4 m/s instead of 6.07. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of OK
Jackson County is the 717th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in OK is Cimarron County at 6.82 m/s, payback 28 years.
Month by month in Jackson County
April is the strongest month here, at 7.01 m/s and about 2,230 kWh. August is the weakest, 5.24 m/s and 1,207 kWh, so the best month makes 1.8 times the worst. November to March brings in 42% of the year's output in Jackson County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.92 m/s | 1,622 kWh | $224 |
| February | 6.11 m/s | 1,571 kWh | $217 |
| March | 6.51 m/s | 1,991 kWh | $275 |
| April | 7.01 m/s | 2,230 kWh | $308 |
| May | 6.47 m/s | 1,969 kWh | $272 |
| June | 6.27 m/s | 1,787 kWh | $247 |
| July | 5.47 m/s | 1,341 kWh | $185 |
| August | 5.24 m/s | 1,207 kWh | $167 |
| September | 5.54 m/s | 1,340 kWh | $185 |
| October | 6.17 m/s | 1,779 kWh | $246 |
| November | 6.28 m/s | 1,792 kWh | $247 |
| December | 5.88 m/s | 1,600 kWh | $221 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Jackson County averages 4.71 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.83 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.231, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 16,233 to 25,819 kWh a year, 59% 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 | 5.53 m/s | 16,233 kWh | 45 years |
| 30 m | 6.07 m/s | 20,221 kWh | 36 years |
| 40 m | 6.49 m/s | 23,310 kWh | 31 years |
| 50 m | 6.83 m/s | 25,819 kWh | 28 years |
Counties around Jackson County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Kiowa County, averages 6.26 m/s.
- Greer County, OK: 6.23 m/s, 21,410 kWh, payback 34 years (25 mi)
- Harmon County, OK: 6.04 m/s, 20,001 kWh, payback 36 years (27 mi)
- Hardeman County, TX: 6.04 m/s, 20,001 kWh, payback 31 years (28 mi)
- Tillman County, OK: 6.07 m/s, 20,223 kWh, payback 36 years (31 mi)
- Kiowa County, OK: 6.26 m/s, 21,632 kWh, payback 34 years (33 mi)
- Wilbarger County, TX: 6.03 m/s, 19,926 kWh, payback 31 years (36 mi)
Sun versus wind in Jackson County
Jackson County gets 5.06 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,478 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,022. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.4 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.