Wind Turbine Payback in Kittson County, MN
Wind turbine payback in Kittson 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 Kittson County, MN averages 6.25 m/s (14 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 21,558 kWh a year, worth $3,544 at MN's 16.44¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 28 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Kittson County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Kittson County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.5 m/s at the hub against 6.25 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,101 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,156, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 23¢/kWh, 1.4 times what MN pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.5 m/s instead of 6.25. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of MN
Kittson County is the 528th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in MN is Lincoln County at 6.68 m/s, payback 25 years.
Month by month in Kittson County
October is the strongest month here, at 6.64 m/s and about 2,076 kWh. July is the weakest, 5.60 m/s and 1,423 kWh, so the best month makes 1.5 times the worst. November to March brings in 42% of the year's output in Kittson County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.28 m/s | 1,851 kWh | $304 |
| February | 6.20 m/s | 1,626 kWh | $267 |
| March | 6.50 m/s | 1,986 kWh | $326 |
| April | 6.68 m/s | 2,030 kWh | $334 |
| May | 6.58 m/s | 2,037 kWh | $335 |
| June | 5.98 m/s | 1,605 kWh | $264 |
| July | 5.60 m/s | 1,423 kWh | $234 |
| August | 5.69 m/s | 1,479 kWh | $243 |
| September | 6.33 m/s | 1,818 kWh | $299 |
| October | 6.64 m/s | 2,076 kWh | $341 |
| November | 6.45 m/s | 1,895 kWh | $312 |
| December | 6.08 m/s | 1,721 kWh | $283 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Kittson County averages 4.95 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.96 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.212, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 17,721 to 26,756 kWh a year, 51% 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 | 5.73 m/s | 17,721 kWh | 34 years |
| 30 m | 6.25 m/s | 21,526 kWh | 28 years |
| 40 m | 6.64 m/s | 24,424 kWh | 25 years |
| 50 m | 6.96 m/s | 26,756 kWh | 23 years |
Counties around Kittson County
5 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Grand Forks County, averages 6.4 m/s.
- Marshall County, MN: 6.31 m/s, 22,003 kWh, payback 28 years (34 mi)
- Pembina County, ND: 6.35 m/s, 22,299 kWh, payback 36 years (35 mi)
- Roseau County, MN: 5.74 m/s, 17,785 kWh, payback 34 years (44 mi)
- Walsh County, ND: 6.37 m/s, 22,447 kWh, payback 36 years (51 mi)
- Pennington County, MN: 6.34 m/s, 22,225 kWh, payback 27 years (60 mi)
- Grand Forks County, ND: 6.4 m/s, 22,669 kWh, payback 35 years (66 mi)
Sun versus wind in Kittson County
Kittson County gets 3.77 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,101 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,156. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 2.0 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.