Wind Turbine Payback in Jackson County, WI
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, WI averages 6.02 m/s (13.5 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 19,852 kWh a year, worth $3,782 at WI's 19.05¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 26 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, 6.9 m/s at the hub against 6.02 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,121 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,985, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 25¢/kWh, 1.3 times what WI pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 6.9 m/s instead of 6.02. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of WI
Jackson County is the 816th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in WI is Manitowoc County at 7.32 m/s, payback 18 years.
Month by month in Jackson County
April is the strongest month here, at 6.77 m/s and about 2,088 kWh. August is the weakest, 4.99 m/s and 1,058 kWh, so the best month makes 2.0 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 | 6.37 m/s | 1,907 kWh | $363 |
| February | 6.58 m/s | 1,839 kWh | $350 |
| March | 6.40 m/s | 1,924 kWh | $367 |
| April | 6.77 m/s | 2,088 kWh | $398 |
| May | 6.11 m/s | 1,744 kWh | $332 |
| June | 5.55 m/s | 1,348 kWh | $257 |
| July | 5.01 m/s | 1,068 kWh | $203 |
| August | 4.99 m/s | 1,058 kWh | $202 |
| September | 5.80 m/s | 1,498 kWh | $285 |
| October | 6.32 m/s | 1,874 kWh | $357 |
| November | 6.25 m/s | 1,770 kWh | $337 |
| December | 6.10 m/s | 1,739 kWh | $331 |
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 6.74 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.223, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 15,997 to 25,166 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 | 5.49 m/s | 15,997 kWh | 33 years |
| 30 m | 6.01 m/s | 19,810 kWh | 27 years |
| 40 m | 6.41 m/s | 22,764 kWh | 23 years |
| 50 m | 6.74 m/s | 25,166 kWh | 21 years |
Counties around Jackson County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Monroe County, averages 6.07 m/s.
- Monroe County, WI: 6.07 m/s, 20,223 kWh, payback 26 years (28 mi)
- Trempealeau County, WI: 6 m/s, 19,704 kWh, payback 27 years (28 mi)
- Clark County, WI: 6.02 m/s, 19,852 kWh, payback 26 years (30 mi)
- La Crosse County, WI: 6.03 m/s, 19,926 kWh, payback 26 years (33 mi)
- Eau Claire County, WI: 6 m/s, 19,704 kWh, payback 27 years (37 mi)
- Wood County, WI: 6.06 m/s, 20,149 kWh, payback 26 years (39 mi)
Sun versus wind in Jackson County
Jackson County gets 3.84 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,121 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,985. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.8 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.