Wind Turbine Payback in Klamath County, OR
Wind turbine payback in Klamath 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 Klamath County, OR averages 3.28 m/s (7.3 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 3,506 kWh a year, worth $542 at OR's 15.46¢/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 Klamath County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Klamath County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.8 m/s at the hub against 3.28 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,378 kWh a year here against the turbine's 351, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 143¢/kWh, 9.2 times what OR pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.8 m/s instead of 3.28. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of OR
Klamath County is the 2,773rd windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in OR is Gilliam County at 5.48 m/s, payback 41 years.
Month by month in Klamath County
December is the strongest month here, at 3.63 m/s and about 413 kWh. July is the weakest, 2.86 m/s and 188 kWh, so the best month makes 2.2 times the worst. November to March brings in 53% of the year's output in Klamath County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.54 m/s | 381 kWh | $59 |
| February | 3.55 m/s | 347 kWh | $54 |
| March | 3.61 m/s | 404 kWh | $62 |
| April | 3.38 m/s | 319 kWh | $49 |
| May | 3.18 m/s | 268 kWh | $41 |
| June | 3.06 m/s | 229 kWh | $35 |
| July | 2.86 m/s | 188 kWh | $29 |
| August | 2.88 m/s | 191 kWh | $30 |
| September | 3.03 m/s | 220 kWh | $34 |
| October | 3.23 m/s | 282 kWh | $44 |
| November | 3.47 m/s | 347 kWh | $54 |
| December | 3.63 m/s | 413 kWh | $64 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Klamath County averages 2.18 m/s; at 50 m it is 3.97 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.372, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 2,107 to 6,428 kWh a year, 205% 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 | 2.82 m/s | 2,107 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.28 m/s | 3,516 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 3.65 m/s | 4,964 kWh | over 100 years |
| 50 m | 3.97 m/s | 6,428 kWh | over 100 years |
Counties around Klamath County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Lake County, averages 4.75 m/s.
- Jackson County, OR: 2.98 m/s, 2,542 kWh, payback over 100 years (56 mi)
- Lake County, OR: 4.75 m/s, 10,890 kWh, payback 59 years (64 mi)
- Douglas County, OR: 2.81 m/s, 2,073 kWh, payback over 100 years (87 mi)
- Deschutes County, OR: 4.23 m/s, 7,787 kWh, payback 83 years (88 mi)
- Siskiyou County, CA: 2.97 m/s, 2,513 kWh, payback over 100 years (88 mi)
- Modoc County, CA: 4.73 m/s, 10,762 kWh, payback 29 years (89 mi)
Sun versus wind in Klamath County
Klamath County gets 4.72 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,378 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 351. 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.