Wind Turbine Payback in Lyon County, KS
Wind turbine payback in Lyon 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 Lyon County, KS averages 6.38 m/s (14.3 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 22,521 kWh a year, worth $3,437 at KS's 15.26¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 29 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Lyon County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Lyon County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.8 m/s at the hub against 6.38 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,296 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,252, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 22¢/kWh, 1.5 times what KS pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.8 m/s instead of 6.38. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of KS
Lyon County is the 359th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in KS is Edwards County at 6.68 m/s, payback 27 years.
Month by month in Lyon County
April is the strongest month here, at 7.39 m/s and about 2,447 kWh. August is the weakest, 5.13 m/s and 1,140 kWh, so the best month makes 2.1 times the worst. November to March brings in 46% of the year's output in Lyon County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.60 m/s | 2,052 kWh | $313 |
| February | 6.60 m/s | 1,854 kWh | $283 |
| March | 7.07 m/s | 2,338 kWh | $357 |
| April | 7.39 m/s | 2,447 kWh | $373 |
| May | 6.44 m/s | 1,952 kWh | $298 |
| June | 6.17 m/s | 1,726 kWh | $263 |
| July | 5.24 m/s | 1,204 kWh | $184 |
| August | 5.13 m/s | 1,140 kWh | $174 |
| September | 5.93 m/s | 1,579 kWh | $241 |
| October | 6.63 m/s | 2,069 kWh | $316 |
| November | 6.85 m/s | 2,136 kWh | $326 |
| December | 6.54 m/s | 2,014 kWh | $307 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Lyon County averages 4.99 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.15 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.223, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 18,437 to 28,109 kWh a year, 52% 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 | 5.83 m/s | 18,437 kWh | 36 years |
| 30 m | 6.38 m/s | 22,522 kWh | 29 years |
| 40 m | 6.8 m/s | 25,623 kWh | 26 years |
| 50 m | 7.15 m/s | 28,109 kWh | 23 years |
Counties around Lyon County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Chase County, averages 6.46 m/s.
- Chase County, KS: 6.46 m/s, 23,112 kWh, payback 28 years (26 mi)
- Coffey County, KS: 6.18 m/s, 21,039 kWh, payback 31 years (28 mi)
- Osage County, KS: 6.22 m/s, 21,336 kWh, payback 31 years (28 mi)
- Morris County, KS: 6.46 m/s, 23,112 kWh, payback 28 years (31 mi)
- Wabaunsee County, KS: 6.28 m/s, 21,781 kWh, payback 30 years (35 mi)
- Greenwood County, KS: 6.33 m/s, 22,151 kWh, payback 30 years (40 mi)
Sun versus wind in Lyon County
Lyon County gets 4.44 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,296 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,252. 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.