Wind Turbine Payback in Kaufman County, TX
Wind turbine payback in Kaufman 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 Kaufman County, TX averages 5.62 m/s (12.6 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 16,907 kWh a year, worth $2,710 at TX's 16.03¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 37 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Kaufman County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Kaufman County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.6 m/s at the hub against 5.62 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,375 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,691, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 30¢/kWh, 1.8 times what TX pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.6 m/s instead of 5.62. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of TX
Kaufman County is the 1,155th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in TX is Dallam County at 6.82 m/s, payback 24 years.
Month by month in Kaufman County
March is the strongest month here, at 6.44 m/s and about 1,952 kWh. August is the weakest, 4.49 m/s and 787 kWh, so the best month makes 2.5 times the worst. November to March brings in 50% of the year's output in Kaufman County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.07 m/s | 1,719 kWh | $276 |
| February | 6.28 m/s | 1,668 kWh | $267 |
| March | 6.44 m/s | 1,952 kWh | $313 |
| April | 6.51 m/s | 1,927 kWh | $309 |
| May | 5.78 m/s | 1,535 kWh | $246 |
| June | 5.13 m/s | 1,105 kWh | $177 |
| July | 4.69 m/s | 893 kWh | $143 |
| August | 4.49 m/s | 787 kWh | $126 |
| September | 4.68 m/s | 860 kWh | $138 |
| October | 5.48 m/s | 1,349 kWh | $216 |
| November | 6.01 m/s | 1,625 kWh | $260 |
| December | 5.97 m/s | 1,657 kWh | $266 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Kaufman County averages 4.32 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.35 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.239, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 13,223 to 22,299 kWh a year, 69% 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 | 5.1 m/s | 13,223 kWh | 47 years |
| 30 m | 5.62 m/s | 16,909 kWh | 37 years |
| 40 m | 6.02 m/s | 19,854 kWh | 31 years |
| 50 m | 6.35 m/s | 22,299 kWh | 28 years |
Counties around Kaufman County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Dallas County, averages 5.77 m/s.
- Rockwall County, TX: 5.71 m/s, 17,565 kWh, payback 36 years (22 mi)
- Van Zandt County, TX: 5.44 m/s, 15,605 kWh, payback 40 years (26 mi)
- Dallas County, TX: 5.77 m/s, 18,006 kWh, payback 35 years (31 mi)
- Rains County, TX: 5.53 m/s, 16,254 kWh, payback 38 years (34 mi)
- Ellis County, TX: 5.68 m/s, 17,345 kWh, payback 36 years (34 mi)
- Henderson County, TX: 4.92 m/s, 11,999 kWh, payback 52 years (37 mi)
Sun versus wind in Kaufman County
Kaufman County gets 4.71 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,375 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,691. 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.