Wind Turbine Payback in Lincoln County, OK
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, OK averages 6.24 m/s (14 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 21,484 kWh a year, worth $2,967 at OK's 13.81¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 34 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, 8.4 m/s at the hub against 6.24 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,334 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,148, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 23¢/kWh, 1.7 times what OK pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.4 m/s instead of 6.24. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of OK
Lincoln County is the 541st windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in OK is Cimarron County at 6.82 m/s, payback 28 years.
Month by month in Lincoln County
April is the strongest month here, at 7.28 m/s and about 2,387 kWh. August is the weakest, 5.05 m/s and 1,091 kWh, so the best month makes 2.2 times the worst. November to March brings in 47% of the year's output in Lincoln County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.50 m/s | 1,989 kWh | $275 |
| February | 6.59 m/s | 1,847 kWh | $255 |
| March | 6.97 m/s | 2,280 kWh | $315 |
| April | 7.28 m/s | 2,387 kWh | $330 |
| May | 6.43 m/s | 1,945 kWh | $269 |
| June | 6.00 m/s | 1,617 kWh | $223 |
| July | 5.16 m/s | 1,158 kWh | $160 |
| August | 5.05 m/s | 1,091 kWh | $151 |
| September | 5.43 m/s | 1,275 kWh | $176 |
| October | 6.36 m/s | 1,900 kWh | $262 |
| November | 6.75 m/s | 2,075 kWh | $287 |
| December | 6.43 m/s | 1,945 kWh | $269 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Lincoln County averages 4.84 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.03 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.232, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 17,373 to 27,257 kWh a year, 57% 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 | 5.68 m/s | 17,373 kWh | 42 years |
| 30 m | 6.24 m/s | 21,516 kWh | 34 years |
| 40 m | 6.68 m/s | 24,694 kWh | 29 years |
| 50 m | 7.03 m/s | 27,257 kWh | 27 years |
Counties around Lincoln County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Oklahoma County, averages 6.36 m/s.
- Payne County, OK: 6.25 m/s, 21,558 kWh, payback 34 years (27 mi)
- Oklahoma County, OK: 6.36 m/s, 22,373 kWh, payback 32 years (31 mi)
- Creek County, OK: 6.16 m/s, 20,891 kWh, payback 35 years (31 mi)
- Pottawatomie County, OK: 6.21 m/s, 21,262 kWh, payback 34 years (34 mi)
- Logan County, OK: 6.28 m/s, 21,781 kWh, payback 33 years (35 mi)
- Okfuskee County, OK: 6.11 m/s, 20,520 kWh, payback 35 years (35 mi)
Sun versus wind in Lincoln County
Lincoln County gets 4.57 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,334 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,148. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.6 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.