Wind Turbine Payback in Lake of the Woods County, MN
Wind turbine payback in Lake of the Woods 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 Lake of the Woods County, MN averages 5.51 m/s (12.3 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 16,109 kWh a year, worth $2,648 at MN's 16.44¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 38 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Lake of the Woods County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Lake of the Woods County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.5 m/s at the hub against 5.51 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,063 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,611, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 31¢/kWh, 1.9 times what MN pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.5 m/s instead of 5.51. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of MN
Lake of the Woods County is the 1,215th 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 Lake of the Woods County
April is the strongest month here, at 5.94 m/s and about 1,585 kWh. December is the weakest, 5.14 m/s and 1,146 kWh, so the best month makes 1.4 times the worst. November to March brings in 39% of the year's output in Lake of the Woods County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.28 m/s | 1,226 kWh | $202 |
| February | 5.35 m/s | 1,147 kWh | $189 |
| March | 5.64 m/s | 1,446 kWh | $238 |
| April | 5.94 m/s | 1,585 kWh | $261 |
| May | 5.81 m/s | 1,553 kWh | $255 |
| June | 5.44 m/s | 1,282 kWh | $211 |
| July | 5.16 m/s | 1,156 kWh | $190 |
| August | 5.24 m/s | 1,204 kWh | $198 |
| September | 5.75 m/s | 1,465 kWh | $241 |
| October | 5.84 m/s | 1,570 kWh | $258 |
| November | 5.57 m/s | 1,362 kWh | $224 |
| December | 5.14 m/s | 1,146 kWh | $188 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Lake of the Woods County averages 4.43 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.1 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.199, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 13,100 to 20,446 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 | 5.08 m/s | 13,100 kWh | 46 years |
| 30 m | 5.51 m/s | 16,112 kWh | 38 years |
| 40 m | 5.84 m/s | 18,485 kWh | 33 years |
| 50 m | 6.1 m/s | 20,446 kWh | 30 years |
Counties around Lake of the Woods County
5 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Pennington County, averages 6.34 m/s.
- Roseau County, MN: 5.74 m/s, 17,785 kWh, payback 34 years (42 mi)
- Beltrami County, MN: 6.25 m/s, 21,558 kWh, payback 28 years (62 mi)
- Koochiching County, MN: 4.1 m/s, 7,090 kWh, payback 86 years (63 mi)
- Pennington County, MN: 6.34 m/s, 22,225 kWh, payback 27 years (71 mi)
- Marshall County, MN: 6.31 m/s, 22,003 kWh, payback 28 years (72 mi)
- Red Lake County, MN: 6.34 m/s, 22,225 kWh, payback 27 years (83 mi)
Sun versus wind in Lake of the Woods County
Lake of the Woods County gets 3.64 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,063 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,611. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.5 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.