Wind Turbine Payback in Major County, OK
Wind turbine payback in Major 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 Major County, OK averages 6.46 m/s (14.5 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 23,112 kWh a year, worth $3,192 at OK's 13.81¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 31 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Major County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Major County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.4 m/s at the hub against 6.46 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,407 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,311, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 22¢/kWh, 1.6 times what OK pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.4 m/s instead of 6.46. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of OK
Major County is the 239th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in OK is Cimarron County at 6.82 m/s, payback 28 years.
Month by month in Major County
April is the strongest month here, at 7.35 m/s and about 2,425 kWh. August is the weakest, 5.73 m/s and 1,507 kWh, so the best month makes 1.6 times the worst. November to March brings in 41% of the year's output in Major County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.26 m/s | 1,838 kWh | $254 |
| February | 6.28 m/s | 1,670 kWh | $231 |
| March | 6.86 m/s | 2,210 kWh | $305 |
| April | 7.35 m/s | 2,425 kWh | $335 |
| May | 6.70 m/s | 2,111 kWh | $292 |
| June | 6.71 m/s | 2,049 kWh | $283 |
| July | 5.90 m/s | 1,613 kWh | $223 |
| August | 5.73 m/s | 1,507 kWh | $208 |
| September | 6.24 m/s | 1,768 kWh | $244 |
| October | 6.61 m/s | 2,056 kWh | $284 |
| November | 6.65 m/s | 2,016 kWh | $278 |
| December | 6.23 m/s | 1,821 kWh | $251 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Major County averages 5.05 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.24 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.224, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 18,939 to 28,741 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 | 5.9 m/s | 18,939 kWh | 38 years |
| 30 m | 6.46 m/s | 23,091 kWh | 31 years |
| 40 m | 6.89 m/s | 26,231 kWh | 28 years |
| 50 m | 7.24 m/s | 28,741 kWh | 25 years |
Counties around Major County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Woodward County, averages 6.69 m/s.
- Blaine County, OK: 6.4 m/s, 22,669 kWh, payback 32 years (31 mi)
- Alfalfa County, OK: 6.31 m/s, 22,003 kWh, payback 33 years (31 mi)
- Woods County, OK: 6.46 m/s, 23,112 kWh, payback 31 years (34 mi)
- Dewey County, OK: 6.62 m/s, 24,289 kWh, payback 30 years (35 mi)
- Woodward County, OK: 6.69 m/s, 24,801 kWh, payback 29 years (41 mi)
- Garfield County, OK: 6.23 m/s, 21,410 kWh, payback 34 years (42 mi)
Sun versus wind in Major County
Major County gets 4.82 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,407 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,311. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.6 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.