Wind Turbine Payback in Lee County, TX
Wind turbine payback in Lee 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 Lee 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 Lee County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Lee 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 1,384 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
Lee 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 Lee County
March is the strongest month here, at 6.11 m/s and about 1,743 kWh. September is the weakest, 4.43 m/s and 733 kWh, so the best month makes 2.4 times the worst. November to March brings in 50% of the year's output in Lee County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.84 m/s | 1,570 kWh | $252 |
| February | 6.07 m/s | 1,549 kWh | $248 |
| March | 6.11 m/s | 1,743 kWh | $279 |
| April | 6.15 m/s | 1,713 kWh | $275 |
| May | 5.69 m/s | 1,482 kWh | $238 |
| June | 4.97 m/s | 1,013 kWh | $162 |
| July | 4.62 m/s | 858 kWh | $138 |
| August | 4.42 m/s | 753 kWh | $121 |
| September | 4.43 m/s | 733 kWh | $117 |
| October | 5.20 m/s | 1,180 kWh | $189 |
| November | 5.69 m/s | 1,434 kWh | $230 |
| December | 5.80 m/s | 1,548 kWh | $248 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Lee County averages 4.15 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.12 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.241, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 11,915 to 20,594 kWh a year, 73% 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 | 4.91 m/s | 11,915 kWh | 52 years |
| 30 m | 5.41 m/s | 15,398 kWh | 41 years |
| 40 m | 5.8 m/s | 18,223 kWh | 34 years |
| 50 m | 6.12 m/s | 20,594 kWh | 30 years |
Counties around Lee County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Bastrop County, averages 5.43 m/s.
- Burleson County, TX: 5.41 m/s, 15,390 kWh, payback 41 years (24 mi)
- Bastrop County, TX: 5.43 m/s, 15,534 kWh, payback 40 years (25 mi)
- Fayette County, TX: 5.39 m/s, 15,247 kWh, payback 41 years (31 mi)
- Milam County, TX: 5.43 m/s, 15,534 kWh, payback 40 years (32 mi)
- Washington County, TX: 5.09 m/s, 13,146 kWh, payback 48 years (35 mi)
- Travis County, TX: 5.43 m/s, 15,534 kWh, payback 40 years (43 mi)
Sun versus wind in Lee County
Lee County gets 4.74 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,384 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.