Wind Turbine Payback in Jefferson County, KS
Wind turbine payback in Jefferson 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 Jefferson County, KS averages 6.15 m/s (13.8 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 20,816 kWh a year, worth $3,177 at KS's 15.26¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 32 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Jefferson County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Jefferson County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.8 m/s at the hub against 6.15 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,256 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,082, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 24¢/kWh, 1.6 times what KS pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.8 m/s instead of 6.15. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of KS
Jefferson County is the 638th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in KS is Edwards County at 6.68 m/s, payback 27 years.
Month by month in Jefferson County
April is the strongest month here, at 7.11 m/s and about 2,289 kWh. August is the weakest, 4.93 m/s and 1,022 kWh, so the best month makes 2.2 times the worst. November to March brings in 47% of the year's output in Jefferson County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.40 m/s | 1,926 kWh | $294 |
| February | 6.43 m/s | 1,755 kWh | $268 |
| March | 6.84 m/s | 2,198 kWh | $335 |
| April | 7.11 m/s | 2,289 kWh | $349 |
| May | 6.20 m/s | 1,798 kWh | $274 |
| June | 5.90 m/s | 1,561 kWh | $238 |
| July | 5.00 m/s | 1,063 kWh | $162 |
| August | 4.93 m/s | 1,022 kWh | $156 |
| September | 5.70 m/s | 1,437 kWh | $219 |
| October | 6.40 m/s | 1,926 kWh | $294 |
| November | 6.63 m/s | 2,004 kWh | $306 |
| December | 6.32 m/s | 1,876 kWh | $286 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Jefferson County averages 4.78 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.92 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.230, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 16,798 to 26,469 kWh a year, 58% 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 | 5.61 m/s | 16,798 kWh | 39 years |
| 30 m | 6.15 m/s | 20,838 kWh | 31 years |
| 40 m | 6.57 m/s | 23,950 kWh | 27 years |
| 50 m | 6.92 m/s | 26,469 kWh | 25 years |
Counties around Jefferson County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Atchison County, averages 6.17 m/s.
- Leavenworth County, KS: 6.06 m/s, 20,149 kWh, payback 33 years (18 mi)
- Atchison County, KS: 6.17 m/s, 20,965 kWh, payback 31 years (21 mi)
- Douglas County, KS: 6.06 m/s, 20,149 kWh, payback 33 years (24 mi)
- Shawnee County, KS: 6.15 m/s, 20,816 kWh, payback 32 years (25 mi)
- Jackson County, KS: 6.17 m/s, 20,965 kWh, payback 31 years (25 mi)
- Wyandotte County, KS: 6.06 m/s, 20,149 kWh, payback 33 years (34 mi)
Sun versus wind in Jefferson County
Jefferson County gets 4.3 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,256 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,082. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.7 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.