Wind Turbine Payback in Lincoln County, NE
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, NE averages 6.5 m/s (14.5 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 23,407 kWh a year, worth $3,024 at NE's 12.92¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 33 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, 8.8 m/s at the hub against 6.5 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,317 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,341, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 21¢/kWh, 1.7 times what NE pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.8 m/s instead of 6.5. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of NE
Lincoln County is the 208th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in NE is Cherry County at 6.83 m/s, payback 30 years.
Month by month in Lincoln County
April is the strongest month here, at 7.24 m/s and about 2,364 kWh. August is the weakest, 5.57 m/s and 1,403 kWh, so the best month makes 1.7 times the worst. November to March brings in 45% of the year's output in Lincoln County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.76 m/s | 2,149 kWh | $278 |
| February | 6.76 m/s | 1,941 kWh | $251 |
| March | 6.90 m/s | 2,237 kWh | $289 |
| April | 7.24 m/s | 2,364 kWh | $305 |
| May | 6.57 m/s | 2,032 kWh | $263 |
| June | 6.10 m/s | 1,678 kWh | $217 |
| July | 5.58 m/s | 1,409 kWh | $182 |
| August | 5.57 m/s | 1,403 kWh | $181 |
| September | 6.38 m/s | 1,853 kWh | $239 |
| October | 6.78 m/s | 2,160 kWh | $279 |
| November | 6.76 m/s | 2,080 kWh | $269 |
| December | 6.70 m/s | 2,110 kWh | $273 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Lincoln County averages 5.14 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.25 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.214, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 19,401 to 28,811 kWh a year, 49% 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 | 5.96 m/s | 19,401 kWh | 40 years |
| 30 m | 6.5 m/s | 23,401 kWh | 33 years |
| 40 m | 6.91 m/s | 26,411 kWh | 29 years |
| 50 m | 7.25 m/s | 28,811 kWh | 27 years |
Counties around Lincoln County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Logan County, averages 6.66 m/s.
- Logan County, NE: 6.66 m/s, 24,582 kWh, payback 32 years (37 mi)
- Hayes County, NE: 6.27 m/s, 21,706 kWh, payback 36 years (39 mi)
- Frontier County, NE: 6.31 m/s, 22,003 kWh, payback 35 years (40 mi)
- McPherson County, NE: 6.59 m/s, 24,069 kWh, payback 32 years (46 mi)
- Keith County, NE: 6.3 m/s, 21,929 kWh, payback 35 years (48 mi)
- Perkins County, NE: 6.3 m/s, 21,929 kWh, payback 35 years (48 mi)
Sun versus wind in Lincoln County
Lincoln County gets 4.51 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,317 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,341. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.8 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.