Wind Turbine Payback in Jackson Parish, LA
Wind turbine payback in Jackson 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 Jackson Parish, LA averages 3.26 m/s (7.3 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 3,436 kWh a year, worth $456 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 Jackson Parish
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Jackson Parish unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.6 m/s at the hub against 3.26 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,332 kWh a year here against the turbine's 344, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 146¢/kWh, 11.0 times what LA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.6 m/s instead of 3.26. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of LA
Jackson Parish is the 2,801st 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 Jackson Parish
April is the strongest month here, at 3.75 m/s and about 443 kWh. July is the weakest, 2.64 m/s and 142 kWh, so the best month makes 3.1 times the worst. November to March brings in 51% of the year's output in Jackson Parish.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.47 m/s | 359 kWh | $48 |
| February | 3.57 m/s | 353 kWh | $47 |
| March | 3.68 m/s | 431 kWh | $57 |
| April | 3.75 m/s | 443 kWh | $59 |
| May | 3.30 m/s | 304 kWh | $40 |
| June | 2.90 m/s | 190 kWh | $25 |
| July | 2.64 m/s | 142 kWh | $19 |
| August | 2.71 m/s | 154 kWh | $20 |
| September | 3.02 m/s | 218 kWh | $29 |
| October | 3.23 m/s | 283 kWh | $38 |
| November | 3.43 m/s | 335 kWh | $44 |
| December | 3.43 m/s | 346 kWh | $46 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Jackson Parish averages 1.96 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.13 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.463, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 1,802 to 7,248 kWh a year, 302% 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 | 2.7 m/s | 1,802 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.26 m/s | 3,437 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 3.72 m/s | 5,273 kWh | over 100 years |
| 50 m | 4.13 m/s | 7,248 kWh | over 100 years |
Counties around Jackson Parish
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Ouachita Parish, averages 4.65 m/s.
- Lincoln Parish, LA: 3.26 m/s, 3,436 kWh, payback over 100 years (21 mi)
- Winn Parish, LA: 3.19 m/s, 3,198 kWh, payback over 100 years (26 mi)
- Ouachita Parish, LA: 4.65 m/s, 10,257 kWh, payback 74 years (27 mi)
- Bienville Parish, LA: 3.16 m/s, 3,099 kWh, payback over 100 years (28 mi)
- Caldwell Parish, LA: 4.29 m/s, 8,120 kWh, payback 93 years (30 mi)
- Union Parish, LA: 3.05 m/s, 2,751 kWh, payback over 100 years (38 mi)
Sun versus wind in Jackson Parish
Jackson Parish gets 4.56 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,332 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 344. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 3.9 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.