Wind Turbine Payback in Marinette County, WI
Wind turbine payback in Marinette 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 Marinette County, WI averages 4.71 m/s (10.5 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 10,635 kWh a year, worth $2,026 at WI's 19.05¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 49 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Marinette County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Marinette County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 6.9 m/s at the hub against 4.71 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,060 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,064, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 47¢/kWh, 2.5 times what WI pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 6.9 m/s instead of 4.71. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of WI
Marinette County is the 1,607th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in WI is Manitowoc County at 7.32 m/s, payback 18 years.
Month by month in Marinette County
February is the strongest month here, at 5.53 m/s and about 1,249 kWh. July is the weakest, 3.99 m/s and 554 kWh, so the best month makes 2.3 times the worst. November to March brings in 52% of the year's output in Marinette County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.28 m/s | 1,226 kWh | $234 |
| February | 5.53 m/s | 1,249 kWh | $238 |
| March | 5.13 m/s | 1,140 kWh | $217 |
| April | 5.10 m/s | 1,089 kWh | $207 |
| May | 4.45 m/s | 769 kWh | $146 |
| June | 4.07 m/s | 568 kWh | $108 |
| July | 3.99 m/s | 554 kWh | $106 |
| August | 4.03 m/s | 572 kWh | $109 |
| September | 4.44 m/s | 740 kWh | $141 |
| October | 4.80 m/s | 955 kWh | $182 |
| November | 4.85 m/s | 947 kWh | $180 |
| December | 4.95 m/s | 1,036 kWh | $197 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Marinette County averages 3.39 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.49 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.300, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 7,464 to 15,965 kWh a year, 114% 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 | 4.17 m/s | 7,464 kWh | 70 years |
| 30 m | 4.71 m/s | 10,634 kWh | 49 years |
| 40 m | 5.13 m/s | 13,453 kWh | 39 years |
| 50 m | 5.49 m/s | 15,965 kWh | 33 years |
Counties around Marinette County
4 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Menominee County, averages 5.94 m/s.
- Oconto County, WI: 5.93 m/s, 19,186 kWh, payback 27 years (26 mi)
- Menominee County, MI: 4.99 m/s, 12,467 kWh, payback 37 years (27 mi)
- Menominee County, WI: 5.94 m/s, 19,260 kWh, payback 27 years (41 mi)
- Florence County, WI: 3.95 m/s, 6,329 kWh, payback 83 years (41 mi)
- Forest County, WI: 4.98 m/s, 12,400 kWh, payback 42 years (44 mi)
- Dickinson County, MI: 3.95 m/s, 6,329 kWh, payback 73 years (46 mi)
Sun versus wind in Marinette County
Marinette County gets 3.63 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,060 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,064. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.0 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.