Wind Turbine Payback in Lincoln County, ID
Wind turbine payback in Lincoln 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 Lincoln County, ID averages 4.97 m/s (11.1 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 12,333 kWh a year, worth $1,606 at ID's 13.02¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 62 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Lincoln County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Lincoln County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.7 m/s at the hub against 4.97 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,352 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,233, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 41¢/kWh, 3.1 times what ID pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.7 m/s instead of 4.97. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of ID
Lincoln County is the 1,467th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in ID is Owyhee County at 5.38 m/s, payback 51 years.
Month by month in Lincoln County
March is the strongest month here, at 5.23 m/s and about 1,200 kWh. September is the weakest, 4.59 m/s and 813 kWh, so the best month makes 1.5 times the worst. November to March brings in 44% of the year's output in Lincoln County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.13 m/s | 1,143 kWh | $149 |
| February | 5.11 m/s | 1,018 kWh | $133 |
| March | 5.23 m/s | 1,200 kWh | $156 |
| April | 5.22 m/s | 1,157 kWh | $151 |
| May | 4.97 m/s | 1,050 kWh | $137 |
| June | 5.13 m/s | 1,106 kWh | $144 |
| July | 4.81 m/s | 960 kWh | $125 |
| August | 4.68 m/s | 887 kWh | $115 |
| September | 4.59 m/s | 813 kWh | $106 |
| October | 4.78 m/s | 940 kWh | $122 |
| November | 5.06 m/s | 1,066 kWh | $139 |
| December | 4.92 m/s | 1,019 kWh | $133 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Lincoln County averages 3.88 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.57 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.225, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 9,533 to 16,544 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 | 4.53 m/s | 9,533 kWh | 81 years |
| 30 m | 4.97 m/s | 12,301 kWh | 62 years |
| 40 m | 5.3 m/s | 14,589 kWh | 53 years |
| 50 m | 5.57 m/s | 16,544 kWh | 46 years |
Counties around Lincoln County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Jerome County, averages 5.3 m/s.
- Jerome County, ID: 5.3 m/s, 14,608 kWh, payback 53 years (21 mi)
- Minidoka County, ID: 4.93 m/s, 12,065 kWh, payback 64 years (28 mi)
- Blaine County, ID: 4.2 m/s, 7,623 kWh, payback over 100 years (30 mi)
- Gooding County, ID: 4.99 m/s, 12,467 kWh, payback 62 years (34 mi)
- Camas County, ID: 4.1 m/s, 7,090 kWh, payback over 100 years (47 mi)
- Twin Falls County, ID: 5.3 m/s, 14,608 kWh, payback 53 years (51 mi)
Sun versus wind in Lincoln County
Lincoln County gets 4.63 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,352 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,233. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.1 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.