Wind Turbine Payback in Lincoln County, NV
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, NV averages 4.67 m/s (10.4 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 10,382 kWh a year, worth $1,387 at NV's 13.36¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 72 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, 8.6 m/s at the hub against 4.67 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,600 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,038, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 48¢/kWh, 3.6 times what NV pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.6 m/s instead of 4.67. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of NV
Lincoln County is the 1,639th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in NV is Nye County at 4.71 m/s, payback 70 years.
Month by month in Lincoln County
April is the strongest month here, at 5.41 m/s and about 1,264 kWh. July is the weakest, 4.24 m/s and 668 kWh, so the best month makes 1.9 times the worst. November to March brings in 41% of the year's output in Lincoln County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.61 m/s | 852 kWh | $114 |
| February | 4.79 m/s | 853 kWh | $114 |
| March | 5.05 m/s | 1,092 kWh | $146 |
| April | 5.41 m/s | 1,264 kWh | $169 |
| May | 4.97 m/s | 1,045 kWh | $140 |
| June | 5.02 m/s | 1,041 kWh | $139 |
| July | 4.24 m/s | 668 kWh | $89 |
| August | 4.25 m/s | 672 kWh | $90 |
| September | 4.31 m/s | 675 kWh | $90 |
| October | 4.47 m/s | 778 kWh | $104 |
| November | 4.46 m/s | 748 kWh | $100 |
| December | 4.46 m/s | 773 kWh | $103 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Lincoln County averages 3.75 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.17 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.200, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 8,200 to 13,698 kWh a year, 67% 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 | 4.3 m/s | 8,200 kWh | 91 years |
| 30 m | 4.67 m/s | 10,369 kWh | 72 years |
| 40 m | 4.94 m/s | 12,161 kWh | 62 years |
| 50 m | 5.17 m/s | 13,698 kWh | 55 years |
Counties around Lincoln County
5 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Iron County, averages 5.21 m/s.
- Washington County, UT: 5.14 m/s, 13,490 kWh, payback 56 years (80 mi)
- Iron County, UT: 5.21 m/s, 13,976 kWh, payback 54 years (87 mi)
- Nye County, NV: 4.71 m/s, 10,635 kWh, payback 70 years (90 mi)
- Clark County, NV: 4.7 m/s, 10,571 kWh, payback 71 years (99 mi)
- Beaver County, UT: 4.7 m/s, 10,571 kWh, payback 72 years (102 mi)
- White Pine County, NV: 4.38 m/s, 8,632 kWh, payback 87 years (123 mi)
Sun versus wind in Lincoln County
Lincoln County gets 5.48 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,600 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,038. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.5 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.