Wind Turbine Payback in La Salle County, TX
Wind turbine payback in La Salle 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 Salle County, TX averages 5.41 m/s (12.1 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 15,390 kWh a year, worth $2,467 at TX's 16.03¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 41 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in La Salle County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in La Salle County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.6 m/s at the hub against 5.41 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,457 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,539, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 32¢/kWh, 2.0 times what TX pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.6 m/s instead of 5.41. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of TX
La Salle County is the 1,276th 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 La Salle County
May is the strongest month here, at 6.01 m/s and about 1,679 kWh. September is the weakest, 4.84 m/s and 942 kWh, so the best month makes 1.8 times the worst. November to March brings in 38% of the year's output in La Salle County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.01 m/s | 1,069 kWh | $171 |
| February | 5.30 m/s | 1,122 kWh | $180 |
| March | 5.75 m/s | 1,516 kWh | $243 |
| April | 6.03 m/s | 1,636 kWh | $262 |
| May | 6.01 m/s | 1,679 kWh | $269 |
| June | 5.79 m/s | 1,495 kWh | $240 |
| July | 5.62 m/s | 1,439 kWh | $231 |
| August | 5.24 m/s | 1,205 kWh | $193 |
| September | 4.84 m/s | 942 kWh | $151 |
| October | 5.20 m/s | 1,184 kWh | $190 |
| November | 5.15 m/s | 1,115 kWh | $179 |
| December | 4.97 m/s | 1,049 kWh | $168 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in La Salle County averages 4.24 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.06 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.222, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 12,163 to 20,149 kWh a year, 66% 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 | 4.94 m/s | 12,163 kWh | 51 years |
| 30 m | 5.41 m/s | 15,393 kWh | 41 years |
| 40 m | 5.77 m/s | 17,984 kWh | 35 years |
| 50 m | 6.06 m/s | 20,149 kWh | 31 years |
Counties around La Salle County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Webb County, averages 5.68 m/s.
- McMullen County, TX: 5.49 m/s, 15,965 kWh, payback 39 years (32 mi)
- Frio County, TX: 5.29 m/s, 14,538 kWh, payback 43 years (36 mi)
- Dimmit County, TX: 5.36 m/s, 15,034 kWh, payback 42 years (41 mi)
- Webb County, TX: 5.68 m/s, 17,345 kWh, payback 36 years (43 mi)
- Atascosa County, TX: 5.31 m/s, 14,679 kWh, payback 43 years (51 mi)
- Zavala County, TX: 5.32 m/s, 14,750 kWh, payback 42 years (54 mi)
Sun versus wind in La Salle County
La Salle County gets 4.99 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,457 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,539. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.1 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.