Wind Turbine Payback in Lac qui Parle County, MN
Wind turbine payback in Lac qui Parle 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 Lac qui Parle County, MN averages 6.39 m/s (14.3 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 22,595 kWh a year, worth $3,715 at MN's 16.44¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 27 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Lac qui Parle County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Lac qui Parle County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.5 m/s at the hub against 6.39 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,177 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,260, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 22¢/kWh, 1.3 times what MN pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.5 m/s instead of 6.39. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of MN
Lac qui Parle County is the 347th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in MN is Lincoln County at 6.68 m/s, payback 25 years.
Month by month in Lac qui Parle County
October is the strongest month here, at 6.84 m/s and about 2,198 kWh. July is the weakest, 5.38 m/s and 1,286 kWh, so the best month makes 1.7 times the worst. November to March brings in 44% of the year's output in Lac qui Parle County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.60 m/s | 2,053 kWh | $338 |
| February | 6.62 m/s | 1,865 kWh | $307 |
| March | 6.65 m/s | 2,081 kWh | $342 |
| April | 6.95 m/s | 2,196 kWh | $361 |
| May | 6.67 m/s | 2,092 kWh | $344 |
| June | 6.01 m/s | 1,627 kWh | $267 |
| July | 5.38 m/s | 1,286 kWh | $211 |
| August | 5.38 m/s | 1,291 kWh | $212 |
| September | 6.45 m/s | 1,895 kWh | $312 |
| October | 6.84 m/s | 2,198 kWh | $361 |
| November | 6.72 m/s | 2,057 kWh | $338 |
| December | 6.47 m/s | 1,969 kWh | $324 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Lac qui Parle County averages 5.06 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.12 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.212, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 18,690 to 27,897 kWh a year, 49% 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 | 5.86 m/s | 18,690 kWh | 33 years |
| 30 m | 6.39 m/s | 22,589 kWh | 27 years |
| 40 m | 6.79 m/s | 25,537 kWh | 24 years |
| 50 m | 7.12 m/s | 27,897 kWh | 22 years |
Counties around Lac qui Parle County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Deuel County, averages 6.71 m/s.
- Yellow Medicine County, MN: 6.5 m/s, 23,407 kWh, payback 26 years (25 mi)
- Chippewa County, MN: 6.25 m/s, 21,558 kWh, payback 28 years (30 mi)
- Deuel County, SD: 6.71 m/s, 24,947 kWh, payback 28 years (30 mi)
- Swift County, MN: 6.39 m/s, 22,595 kWh, payback 27 years (30 mi)
- Big Stone County, MN: 6.34 m/s, 22,225 kWh, payback 27 years (31 mi)
- Grant County, SD: 6.71 m/s, 24,947 kWh, payback 28 years (31 mi)
Sun versus wind in Lac qui Parle County
Lac qui Parle County gets 4.03 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,177 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,260. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.9 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.