Wind Turbine Payback in Leon County, TX
Wind turbine payback in Leon 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 Leon County, TX averages 5.43 m/s (12.1 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 15,534 kWh a year, worth $2,490 at TX's 16.03¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 40 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Leon County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Leon County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.6 m/s at the hub against 5.43 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,358 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,553, 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 5.43. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of TX
Leon County is the 1,252nd 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 Leon County
March is the strongest month here, at 6.18 m/s and about 1,787 kWh. August is the weakest, 4.40 m/s and 741 kWh, so the best month makes 2.4 times the worst. November to March brings in 51% of the year's output in Leon County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.89 m/s | 1,603 kWh | $257 |
| February | 6.11 m/s | 1,574 kWh | $252 |
| March | 6.18 m/s | 1,787 kWh | $286 |
| April | 6.21 m/s | 1,745 kWh | $280 |
| May | 5.63 m/s | 1,444 kWh | $231 |
| June | 4.91 m/s | 980 kWh | $157 |
| July | 4.56 m/s | 826 kWh | $132 |
| August | 4.40 m/s | 741 kWh | $119 |
| September | 4.45 m/s | 743 kWh | $119 |
| October | 5.27 m/s | 1,223 kWh | $196 |
| November | 5.76 m/s | 1,477 kWh | $237 |
| December | 5.82 m/s | 1,559 kWh | $250 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Leon County averages 4.15 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.15 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.244, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 11,985 to 20,816 kWh a year, 74% 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 | 4.92 m/s | 11,985 kWh | 52 years |
| 30 m | 5.43 m/s | 15,529 kWh | 40 years |
| 40 m | 5.82 m/s | 18,404 kWh | 34 years |
| 50 m | 6.15 m/s | 20,816 kWh | 30 years |
Counties around Leon County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Limestone County, averages 5.52 m/s.
- Madison County, TX: 4.35 m/s, 8,460 kWh, payback 74 years (23 mi)
- Freestone County, TX: 5.43 m/s, 15,534 kWh, payback 40 years (29 mi)
- Houston County, TX: 4.53 m/s, 9,519 kWh, payback 66 years (34 mi)
- Robertson County, TX: 5.27 m/s, 14,397 kWh, payback 43 years (36 mi)
- Limestone County, TX: 5.52 m/s, 16,181 kWh, payback 39 years (39 mi)
- Anderson County, TX: 4.92 m/s, 11,999 kWh, payback 52 years (42 mi)
Sun versus wind in Leon County
Leon County gets 4.65 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,358 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,553. 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.