Wind Turbine Payback in Kootenai County, ID
Wind turbine payback in Kootenai 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 Kootenai County, ID averages 3.64 m/s (8.1 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 4,905 kWh a year, worth $639 at ID's 13.02¢/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 Kootenai County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Kootenai County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.7 m/s at the hub against 3.64 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,121 kWh a year here against the turbine's 491, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 102¢/kWh, 7.8 times what ID pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.7 m/s instead of 3.64. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of ID
Kootenai County is the 2,346th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in ID is Owyhee County at 5.38 m/s, payback 51 years.
Month by month in Kootenai County
March is the strongest month here, at 4.06 m/s and about 586 kWh. August is the weakest, 3.31 m/s and 308 kWh, so the best month makes 1.9 times the worst. November to March brings in 47% of the year's output in Kootenai County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.79 m/s | 473 kWh | $62 |
| February | 3.66 m/s | 384 kWh | $50 |
| March | 4.06 m/s | 586 kWh | $76 |
| April | 3.86 m/s | 484 kWh | $63 |
| May | 3.50 m/s | 368 kWh | $48 |
| June | 3.51 m/s | 359 kWh | $47 |
| July | 3.39 m/s | 332 kWh | $43 |
| August | 3.31 m/s | 308 kWh | $40 |
| September | 3.46 m/s | 342 kWh | $45 |
| October | 3.70 m/s | 437 kWh | $57 |
| November | 3.85 m/s | 481 kWh | $63 |
| December | 3.69 m/s | 434 kWh | $57 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Kootenai County averages 2.58 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.28 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.314, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 3,265 to 8,064 kWh a year, 147% 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 | 3.21 m/s | 3,265 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.65 m/s | 4,929 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 3.99 m/s | 6,529 kWh | over 100 years |
| 50 m | 4.28 m/s | 8,064 kWh | 95 years |
Counties around Kootenai County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Spokane County, averages 4.42 m/s.
- Benewah County, ID: 3.61 m/s, 4,778 kWh, payback over 100 years (32 mi)
- Spokane County, WA: 4.42 m/s, 8,865 kWh, payback 78 years (33 mi)
- Shoshone County, ID: 2.97 m/s, 2,513 kWh, payback over 100 years (44 mi)
- Bonner County, ID: 2.53 m/s, 1,413 kWh, payback over 100 years (45 mi)
- Latah County, ID: 3.61 m/s, 4,778 kWh, payback over 100 years (59 mi)
- Pend Oreille County, WA: 2.48 m/s, 1,310 kWh, payback over 100 years (65 mi)
Sun versus wind in Kootenai County
Kootenai County gets 3.84 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,121 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 491. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 2.3 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.