Wind Turbine Payback in Luna County, NM
Wind turbine payback in Luna 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 Luna County, NM averages 5.33 m/s (11.9 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 14,821 kWh a year, worth $2,273 at NM's 15.34¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 44 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Luna County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Luna County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.8 m/s at the hub against 5.33 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,699 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,482, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 34¢/kWh, 2.2 times what NM pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.8 m/s instead of 5.33. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of NM
Luna County is the 1,315th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in NM is Union County at 6.75 m/s, payback 26 years.
Month by month in Luna County
April is the strongest month here, at 6.71 m/s and about 2,052 kWh. August is the weakest, 4.10 m/s and 602 kWh, so the best month makes 3.4 times the worst. November to March brings in 43% of the year's output in Luna County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.14 m/s | 1,145 kWh | $176 |
| February | 5.66 m/s | 1,322 kWh | $203 |
| March | 6.12 m/s | 1,747 kWh | $268 |
| April | 6.71 m/s | 2,052 kWh | $315 |
| May | 6.30 m/s | 1,865 kWh | $286 |
| June | 5.57 m/s | 1,363 kWh | $209 |
| July | 4.42 m/s | 752 kWh | $115 |
| August | 4.10 m/s | 602 kWh | $92 |
| September | 4.65 m/s | 843 kWh | $129 |
| October | 5.05 m/s | 1,094 kWh | $168 |
| November | 5.18 m/s | 1,134 kWh | $174 |
| December | 5.09 m/s | 1,114 kWh | $171 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Luna County averages 4.14 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.99 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.230, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 11,549 to 19,630 kWh a year, 70% 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 | 4.85 m/s | 11,549 kWh | 56 years |
| 30 m | 5.33 m/s | 14,792 kWh | 44 years |
| 40 m | 5.69 m/s | 17,421 kWh | 37 years |
| 50 m | 5.99 m/s | 19,630 kWh | 33 years |
Counties around Luna County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Grant County, averages 5.52 m/s.
- Grant County, NM: 5.52 m/s, 16,181 kWh, payback 40 years (53 mi)
- Doña Ana County, NM: 5.01 m/s, 12,602 kWh, payback 52 years (55 mi)
- Hidalgo County, NM: 5.18 m/s, 13,768 kWh, payback 47 years (62 mi)
- Sierra County, NM: 5.05 m/s, 12,873 kWh, payback 51 years (72 mi)
- El Paso County, TX: 5.01 m/s, 12,602 kWh, payback 50 years (93 mi)
- Greenlee County, AZ: 4.17 m/s, 7,461 kWh, payback 87 years (113 mi)
Sun versus wind in Luna County
Luna County gets 5.82 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,699 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,482. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.1 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.