Wind Turbine Payback in Jefferson Parish, LA
Wind turbine payback in Jefferson 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 Jefferson Parish, LA averages 5.56 m/s (12.4 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 16,471 kWh a year, worth $2,186 at LA's 13.27¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 46 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Jefferson Parish
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Jefferson Parish unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.6 m/s at the hub against 5.56 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,384 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,647, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 30¢/kWh, 2.3 times what LA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.6 m/s instead of 5.56. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of LA
Jefferson Parish is the 1,181st 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 Jefferson Parish
January is the strongest month here, at 6.68 m/s and about 2,100 kWh. July is the weakest, 3.90 m/s and 517 kWh, so the best month makes 4.1 times the worst. November to March brings in 57% of the year's output in Jefferson Parish.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.68 m/s | 2,100 kWh | $279 |
| February | 6.60 m/s | 1,849 kWh | $245 |
| March | 6.33 m/s | 1,884 kWh | $250 |
| April | 6.28 m/s | 1,789 kWh | $237 |
| May | 5.28 m/s | 1,229 kWh | $163 |
| June | 4.37 m/s | 703 kWh | $93 |
| July | 3.90 m/s | 517 kWh | $69 |
| August | 4.03 m/s | 572 kWh | $76 |
| September | 4.95 m/s | 1,005 kWh | $133 |
| October | 5.74 m/s | 1,509 kWh | $200 |
| November | 6.13 m/s | 1,698 kWh | $225 |
| December | 6.57 m/s | 2,030 kWh | $269 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Jefferson Parish averages 4.79 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.96 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.136, typical of very open, smooth ground where height adds little. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 14,339 to 19,408 kWh a year, 35% 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 | 5.26 m/s | 14,339 kWh | 53 years |
| 30 m | 5.56 m/s | 16,471 kWh | 46 years |
| 40 m | 5.78 m/s | 18,093 kWh | 42 years |
| 50 m | 5.96 m/s | 19,408 kWh | 39 years |
Counties around Jefferson Parish
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Plaquemines Parish, averages 5.81 m/s.
- Lafourche Parish, LA: 5.23 m/s, 14,116 kWh, payback 53 years (22 mi)
- Plaquemines Parish, LA: 5.81 m/s, 18,300 kWh, payback 41 years (32 mi)
- St. Charles Parish, LA: 4.7 m/s, 10,571 kWh, payback 71 years (34 mi)
- Orleans Parish, LA: 5.08 m/s, 13,078 kWh, payback 58 years (38 mi)
- Terrebonne Parish, LA: 5.23 m/s, 14,116 kWh, payback 53 years (50 mi)
- St. John the Baptist Parish, LA: 4.7 m/s, 10,571 kWh, payback 71 years (52 mi)
Sun versus wind in Jefferson Parish
Jefferson Parish gets 4.74 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,384 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,647. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.2 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.