Wind Turbine Payback in Los Angeles County, CA
Wind turbine payback in Los Angeles 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 Los Angeles County, CA averages 3.34 m/s (7.5 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 3,720 kWh a year, worth $1,212 at CA's 32.58¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 83 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Los Angeles County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Los Angeles County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 5.4 m/s at the hub against 3.34 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,650 kWh a year here against the turbine's 372, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 134¢/kWh, 4.1 times what CA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 5.4 m/s instead of 3.34. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of CA
Los Angeles County is the 2,699th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in CA is San Francisco County at 6.53 m/s, payback 13 years.
Month by month in Los Angeles County
January is the strongest month here, at 4.52 m/s and about 803 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.40 m/s and 98 kWh, so the best month makes 8.2 times the worst. November to March brings in 70% of the year's output in Los Angeles County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.52 m/s | 803 kWh | $262 |
| February | 4.05 m/s | 523 kWh | $170 |
| March | 3.66 m/s | 423 kWh | $138 |
| April | 3.52 m/s | 362 kWh | $118 |
| May | 2.99 m/s | 219 kWh | $71 |
| June | 2.57 m/s | 124 kWh | $40 |
| July | 2.44 m/s | 104 kWh | $34 |
| August | 2.40 m/s | 98 kWh | $32 |
| September | 2.57 m/s | 124 kWh | $40 |
| October | 3.14 m/s | 258 kWh | $84 |
| November | 3.88 m/s | 493 kWh | $161 |
| December | 4.34 m/s | 716 kWh | $233 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Los Angeles County averages 2.83 m/s; at 50 m it is 3.6 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.150, typical of very open, smooth ground where height adds little. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 3,027 to 4,736 kWh a year, 56% 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 | 3.14 m/s | 3,027 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.33 m/s | 3,700 kWh | 83 years |
| 40 m | 3.48 m/s | 4,256 kWh | 72 years |
| 50 m | 3.6 m/s | 4,736 kWh | 65 years |
Counties around Los Angeles County
5 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Santa Barbara County, averages 4.51 m/s.
- Orange County, CA: 3.16 m/s, 3,099 kWh, payback 99 years (45 mi)
- Ventura County, CA: 3.36 m/s, 3,794 kWh, payback 81 years (51 mi)
- Kern County, CA: 3.43 m/s, 4,056 kWh, payback 76 years (84 mi)
- Santa Barbara County, CA: 4.51 m/s, 9,399 kWh, payback 33 years (104 mi)
- San Diego County, CA: 3.87 m/s, 5,942 kWh, payback 52 years (118 mi)
- San Bernardino County, CA: 4.3 m/s, 8,176 kWh, payback 38 years (127 mi)
Sun versus wind in Los Angeles County
Los Angeles County gets 5.65 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,650 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 372. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 4.4 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.