Wind Turbine Payback in La Crosse County, WI
Wind turbine payback in La Crosse 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 La Crosse County, WI averages 6.03 m/s (13.5 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 19,926 kWh a year, worth $3,796 at WI's 19.05¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 26 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in La Crosse County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in La Crosse County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 6.9 m/s at the hub against 6.03 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,136 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,993, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 25¢/kWh, 1.3 times what WI pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 6.9 m/s instead of 6.03. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of WI
La Crosse County is the 791st windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in WI is Manitowoc County at 7.32 m/s, payback 18 years.
Month by month in La Crosse County
April is the strongest month here, at 6.77 m/s and about 2,089 kWh. August is the weakest, 4.94 m/s and 1,032 kWh, so the best month makes 2.0 times the worst. November to March brings in 47% of the year's output in La Crosse County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.47 m/s | 1,969 kWh | $375 |
| February | 6.60 m/s | 1,855 kWh | $353 |
| March | 6.44 m/s | 1,953 kWh | $372 |
| April | 6.77 m/s | 2,089 kWh | $398 |
| May | 6.10 m/s | 1,739 kWh | $331 |
| June | 5.55 m/s | 1,348 kWh | $257 |
| July | 4.99 m/s | 1,057 kWh | $201 |
| August | 4.94 m/s | 1,032 kWh | $197 |
| September | 5.83 m/s | 1,514 kWh | $288 |
| October | 6.34 m/s | 1,885 kWh | $359 |
| November | 6.33 m/s | 1,819 kWh | $347 |
| December | 6.13 m/s | 1,756 kWh | $335 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in La Crosse County averages 4.74 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.75 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.220, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 16,165 to 25,239 kWh a year, 56% 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 | 5.52 m/s | 16,165 kWh | 33 years |
| 30 m | 6.03 m/s | 19,945 kWh | 26 years |
| 40 m | 6.43 m/s | 22,866 kWh | 23 years |
| 50 m | 6.75 m/s | 25,239 kWh | 21 years |
Counties around La Crosse County
4 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Winona County, averages 6.17 m/s.
- Monroe County, WI: 6.07 m/s, 20,223 kWh, payback 26 years (25 mi)
- Houston County, MN: 6.09 m/s, 20,371 kWh, payback 30 years (26 mi)
- Vernon County, WI: 6.09 m/s, 20,371 kWh, payback 26 years (26 mi)
- Trempealeau County, WI: 6 m/s, 19,704 kWh, payback 27 years (30 mi)
- Jackson County, WI: 6.02 m/s, 19,852 kWh, payback 26 years (33 mi)
- Winona County, MN: 6.17 m/s, 20,965 kWh, payback 29 years (33 mi)
Sun versus wind in La Crosse County
La Crosse County gets 3.89 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,136 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,993. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.8 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.