Wind Turbine Payback in Lafayette County, MS
Wind turbine payback in Lafayette 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 Lafayette County, MS averages 3.81 m/s (8.5 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 5,660 kWh a year, worth $852 at MS's 15.06¢/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 Lafayette County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Lafayette County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.9 m/s at the hub against 3.81 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,302 kWh a year here against the turbine's 566, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 88¢/kWh, 5.9 times what MS pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.9 m/s instead of 3.81. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of MS
Lafayette County is the 2,203rd windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in MS is DeSoto County at 5.13 m/s, payback 50 years.
Month by month in Lafayette County
March is the strongest month here, at 4.52 m/s and about 802 kWh. July is the weakest, 2.77 m/s and 168 kWh, so the best month makes 4.8 times the worst. November to March brings in 57% of the year's output in Lafayette County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.36 m/s | 723 kWh | $109 |
| February | 4.51 m/s | 720 kWh | $108 |
| March | 4.52 m/s | 802 kWh | $121 |
| April | 4.48 m/s | 755 kWh | $114 |
| May | 3.72 m/s | 448 kWh | $67 |
| June | 3.14 m/s | 249 kWh | $37 |
| July | 2.77 m/s | 168 kWh | $25 |
| August | 2.85 m/s | 185 kWh | $28 |
| September | 3.38 m/s | 317 kWh | $48 |
| October | 3.77 m/s | 463 kWh | $70 |
| November | 4.11 m/s | 588 kWh | $89 |
| December | 4.19 m/s | 641 kWh | $97 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Lafayette County averages 2.52 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.61 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.375, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 3,469 to 10,008 kWh a year, 188% 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 | 3.27 m/s | 3,469 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.81 m/s | 5,644 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 4.24 m/s | 7,842 kWh | 85 years |
| 50 m | 4.61 m/s | 10,008 kWh | 66 years |
Counties around Lafayette County
5 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Panola County, averages 4.85 m/s.
- Yalobusha County, MS: 4.24 m/s, 7,842 kWh, payback 85 years (26 mi)
- Pontotoc County, MS: 4.39 m/s, 8,690 kWh, payback 76 years (27 mi)
- Panola County, MS: 4.85 m/s, 11,537 kWh, payback 58 years (27 mi)
- Marshall County, MS: 4.35 m/s, 8,460 kWh, payback 79 years (29 mi)
- Union County, MS: 4.09 m/s, 7,038 kWh, payback 94 years (29 mi)
- Calhoun County, MS: 3.79 m/s, 5,568 kWh, payback over 100 years (30 mi)
Sun versus wind in Lafayette County
Lafayette County gets 4.46 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,302 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 566. 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.