Wind Turbine Payback in Lawrence County, MO
Wind turbine payback in Lawrence 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 Lawrence County, MO averages 5.5 m/s (12.3 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 16,037 kWh a year, worth $2,290 at MO's 14.28¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 44 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Lawrence County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Lawrence County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.2 m/s at the hub against 5.5 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,267 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,604, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 31¢/kWh, 2.2 times what MO pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.2 m/s instead of 5.5. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of MO
Lawrence County is the 1,222nd windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in MO is Atchison County at 6.17 m/s, payback 33 years.
Month by month in Lawrence County
April is the strongest month here, at 6.45 m/s and about 1,896 kWh. July is the weakest, 4.25 m/s and 669 kWh, so the best month makes 2.8 times the worst. November to March brings in 51% of the year's output in Lawrence County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.02 m/s | 1,688 kWh | $241 |
| February | 6.13 m/s | 1,584 kWh | $226 |
| March | 6.29 m/s | 1,854 kWh | $265 |
| April | 6.45 m/s | 1,896 kWh | $271 |
| May | 5.53 m/s | 1,381 kWh | $197 |
| June | 4.91 m/s | 979 kWh | $140 |
| July | 4.25 m/s | 669 kWh | $96 |
| August | 4.32 m/s | 703 kWh | $100 |
| September | 4.73 m/s | 885 kWh | $126 |
| October | 5.59 m/s | 1,419 kWh | $203 |
| November | 6.01 m/s | 1,623 kWh | $232 |
| December | 5.90 m/s | 1,610 kWh | $230 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Lawrence County averages 4.17 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.26 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.252, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 12,328 to 21,632 kWh a year, 75% 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 | 4.97 m/s | 12,328 kWh | 57 years |
| 30 m | 5.5 m/s | 16,065 kWh | 44 years |
| 40 m | 5.92 m/s | 19,095 kWh | 37 years |
| 50 m | 6.26 m/s | 21,632 kWh | 32 years |
Counties around Lawrence County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Jasper County, averages 5.78 m/s.
- Dade County, MO: 5.73 m/s, 17,712 kWh, payback 40 years (23 mi)
- Barry County, MO: 4.39 m/s, 8,690 kWh, payback 81 years (28 mi)
- Jasper County, MO: 5.78 m/s, 18,079 kWh, payback 39 years (29 mi)
- Greene County, MO: 4.73 m/s, 10,762 kWh, payback 65 years (29 mi)
- Newton County, MO: 5.78 m/s, 18,079 kWh, payback 39 years (31 mi)
- Stone County, MO: 4.39 m/s, 8,690 kWh, payback 81 years (32 mi)
Sun versus wind in Lawrence County
Lawrence County gets 4.34 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,267 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,604. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.3 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.