Wind Turbine Payback in Lucas County, IA
Wind turbine payback in Lucas 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 Lucas County, IA averages 6.1 m/s (13.6 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 20,446 kWh a year, worth $2,975 at IA's 14.55¢/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 Lucas County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Lucas County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.1 m/s at the hub against 6.1 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,194 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,045, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 24¢/kWh, 1.7 times what IA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.1 m/s instead of 6.1. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of IA
Lucas County is the 685th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in IA is Dickinson County at 6.59 m/s, payback 29 years.
Month by month in Lucas County
April is the strongest month here, at 6.94 m/s and about 2,188 kWh. August is the weakest, 4.78 m/s and 942 kWh, so the best month makes 2.3 times the worst. November to March brings in 48% of the year's output in Lucas County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.57 m/s | 2,030 kWh | $295 |
| February | 6.53 m/s | 1,814 kWh | $264 |
| March | 6.72 m/s | 2,124 kWh | $309 |
| April | 6.94 m/s | 2,188 kWh | $318 |
| May | 6.18 m/s | 1,785 kWh | $260 |
| June | 5.54 m/s | 1,340 kWh | $195 |
| July | 4.86 m/s | 986 kWh | $143 |
| August | 4.78 m/s | 942 kWh | $137 |
| September | 5.68 m/s | 1,425 kWh | $207 |
| October | 6.36 m/s | 1,902 kWh | $277 |
| November | 6.64 m/s | 2,008 kWh | $292 |
| December | 6.38 m/s | 1,913 kWh | $278 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Lucas County averages 4.73 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.86 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.231, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 16,408 to 26,036 kWh a year, 59% 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 | 5.55 m/s | 16,408 kWh | 42 years |
| 30 m | 6.1 m/s | 20,419 kWh | 34 years |
| 40 m | 6.52 m/s | 23,520 kWh | 29 years |
| 50 m | 6.86 m/s | 26,036 kWh | 26 years |
Counties around Lucas County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Clarke County, averages 6.16 m/s.
- Wayne County, IA: 5.93 m/s, 19,186 kWh, payback 36 years (20 mi)
- Clarke County, IA: 6.16 m/s, 20,891 kWh, payback 33 years (24 mi)
- Marion County, IA: 6.07 m/s, 20,223 kWh, payback 34 years (24 mi)
- Warren County, IA: 6.14 m/s, 20,742 kWh, payback 33 years (24 mi)
- Monroe County, IA: 6.1 m/s, 20,446 kWh, payback 34 years (24 mi)
- Appanoose County, IA: 5.93 m/s, 19,186 kWh, payback 36 years (31 mi)
Sun versus wind in Lucas County
Lucas County gets 4.09 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,194 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,045. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.7 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.