Wind Turbine Payback in Lincoln County, WI
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, WI averages 6.15 m/s (13.8 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 20,816 kWh a year, worth $3,966 at WI's 19.05¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 25 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, 6.9 m/s at the hub against 6.15 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,080 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,082, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 24¢/kWh, 1.3 times what WI pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 6.9 m/s instead of 6.15. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of WI
Lincoln County is the 638th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in WI is Manitowoc County at 7.32 m/s, payback 18 years.
Month by month in Lincoln County
April is the strongest month here, at 6.73 m/s and about 2,060 kWh. July is the weakest, 5.24 m/s and 1,207 kWh, so the best month makes 1.7 times the worst. November to March brings in 46% of the year's output in Lincoln County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.51 m/s | 1,995 kWh | $380 |
| February | 6.74 m/s | 1,928 kWh | $367 |
| March | 6.48 m/s | 1,979 kWh | $377 |
| April | 6.73 m/s | 2,060 kWh | $392 |
| May | 6.15 m/s | 1,771 kWh | $337 |
| June | 5.65 m/s | 1,410 kWh | $269 |
| July | 5.24 m/s | 1,207 kWh | $230 |
| August | 5.26 m/s | 1,218 kWh | $232 |
| September | 5.99 m/s | 1,616 kWh | $308 |
| October | 6.40 m/s | 1,923 kWh | $366 |
| November | 6.37 m/s | 1,844 kWh | $351 |
| December | 6.30 m/s | 1,861 kWh | $355 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Lincoln County averages 4.82 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.88 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.221, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 16,899 to 26,181 kWh a year, 55% 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 | 5.62 m/s | 16,899 kWh | 31 years |
| 30 m | 6.15 m/s | 20,783 kWh | 25 years |
| 40 m | 6.55 m/s | 23,767 kWh | 22 years |
| 50 m | 6.88 m/s | 26,181 kWh | 20 years |
Counties around Lincoln County
None of the 6 closest counties is windier than Lincoln County.
- Oneida County, WI: 5.8 m/s, 18,226 kWh, payback 29 years (28 mi)
- Marathon County, WI: 6.02 m/s, 19,852 kWh, payback 26 years (30 mi)
- Langlade County, WI: 5.8 m/s, 18,226 kWh, payback 29 years (33 mi)
- Taylor County, WI: 5.99 m/s, 19,630 kWh, payback 27 years (38 mi)
- Price County, WI: 5.7 m/s, 17,492 kWh, payback 30 years (39 mi)
- Vilas County, WI: 4.67 m/s, 10,382 kWh, payback 51 years (51 mi)
Sun versus wind in Lincoln County
Lincoln County gets 3.7 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,080 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,082. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.9 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.