Wind Turbine Payback in Live Oak County, TX
Wind turbine payback in Live Oak 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 Live Oak County, TX averages 5.6 m/s (12.5 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 16,762 kWh a year, worth $2,687 at TX's 16.03¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 37 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Live Oak County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Live Oak County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.6 m/s at the hub against 5.6 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,434 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,676, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 30¢/kWh, 1.9 times what TX pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.6 m/s instead of 5.6. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of TX
Live Oak County is the 1,170th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in TX is Dallam County at 6.82 m/s, payback 24 years.
Month by month in Live Oak County
April is the strongest month here, at 6.38 m/s and about 1,848 kWh. September is the weakest, 4.80 m/s and 922 kWh, so the best month makes 2.0 times the worst. November to March brings in 43% of the year's output in Live Oak County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.61 m/s | 1,428 kWh | $229 |
| February | 5.83 m/s | 1,415 kWh | $227 |
| March | 6.12 m/s | 1,752 kWh | $281 |
| April | 6.38 m/s | 1,848 kWh | $296 |
| May | 6.24 m/s | 1,825 kWh | $293 |
| June | 5.60 m/s | 1,376 kWh | $221 |
| July | 5.35 m/s | 1,269 kWh | $203 |
| August | 4.93 m/s | 1,023 kWh | $164 |
| September | 4.80 m/s | 922 kWh | $148 |
| October | 5.30 m/s | 1,242 kWh | $199 |
| November | 5.51 m/s | 1,323 kWh | $212 |
| December | 5.52 m/s | 1,372 kWh | $220 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Live Oak County averages 4.4 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.26 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.219, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 13,365 to 21,632 kWh a year, 62% 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 | 5.12 m/s | 13,365 kWh | 47 years |
| 30 m | 5.6 m/s | 16,743 kWh | 37 years |
| 40 m | 5.96 m/s | 19,418 kWh | 32 years |
| 50 m | 6.26 m/s | 21,632 kWh | 29 years |
Counties around Live Oak County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, San Patricio County, averages 5.89 m/s.
- Bee County, TX: 5.6 m/s, 16,762 kWh, payback 37 years (24 mi)
- McMullen County, TX: 5.49 m/s, 15,965 kWh, payback 39 years (28 mi)
- Karnes County, TX: 5.39 m/s, 15,247 kWh, payback 41 years (42 mi)
- Jim Wells County, TX: 5.85 m/s, 18,595 kWh, payback 34 years (43 mi)
- San Patricio County, TX: 5.89 m/s, 18,890 kWh, payback 33 years (44 mi)
- Atascosa County, TX: 5.31 m/s, 14,679 kWh, payback 43 years (45 mi)
Sun versus wind in Live Oak County
Live Oak County gets 4.91 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,434 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,676. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.2 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.