Wind Turbine Payback in Kleberg County, TX
Wind turbine payback in Kleberg 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 Kleberg County, TX averages 6.18 m/s (13.8 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 21,039 kWh a year, worth $3,373 at TX's 16.03¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 30 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Kleberg County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Kleberg County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.6 m/s at the hub against 6.18 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,422 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,104, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 24¢/kWh, 1.5 times what TX pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.6 m/s instead of 6.18. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of TX
Kleberg County is the 599th 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 Kleberg County
April is the strongest month here, at 7.00 m/s and about 2,222 kWh. September is the weakest, 5.30 m/s and 1,200 kWh, so the best month makes 1.9 times the worst. November to March brings in 45% of the year's output in Kleberg County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.38 m/s | 1,913 kWh | $307 |
| February | 6.56 m/s | 1,831 kWh | $294 |
| March | 6.75 m/s | 2,145 kWh | $344 |
| April | 7.00 m/s | 2,222 kWh | $356 |
| May | 6.79 m/s | 2,168 kWh | $348 |
| June | 6.08 m/s | 1,669 kWh | $268 |
| July | 5.91 m/s | 1,616 kWh | $259 |
| August | 5.31 m/s | 1,245 kWh | $200 |
| September | 5.30 m/s | 1,200 kWh | $192 |
| October | 5.81 m/s | 1,553 kWh | $249 |
| November | 6.12 m/s | 1,691 kWh | $271 |
| December | 6.24 m/s | 1,827 kWh | $293 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Kleberg County averages 5.03 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.8 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.187, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 17,706 to 25,602 kWh a year, 45% 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 | 17,706 kWh | 35 years |
| 30 m | 6.18 m/s | 21,043 kWh | 30 years |
| 40 m | 6.52 m/s | 23,570 kWh | 27 years |
| 50 m | 6.8 m/s | 25,602 kWh | 24 years |
Counties around Kleberg County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Kenedy County, averages 6.4 m/s.
- Nueces County, TX: 6.18 m/s, 21,039 kWh, payback 30 years (23 mi)
- Jim Wells County, TX: 5.85 m/s, 18,595 kWh, payback 34 years (33 mi)
- Kenedy County, TX: 6.4 m/s, 22,669 kWh, payback 28 years (38 mi)
- San Patricio County, TX: 5.89 m/s, 18,890 kWh, payback 33 years (41 mi)
- Brooks County, TX: 5.96 m/s, 19,408 kWh, payback 32 years (44 mi)
- Duval County, TX: 5.98 m/s, 19,556 kWh, payback 32 years (54 mi)
Sun versus wind in Kleberg County
Kleberg County gets 4.87 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,422 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,104. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.5 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.