Wind Turbine Payback in Matagorda County, TX
Wind turbine payback in Matagorda 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 Matagorda County, TX averages 5.4 m/s (12.1 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 15,319 kWh a year, worth $2,456 at TX's 16.03¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 41 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Matagorda County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Matagorda County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.6 m/s at the hub against 5.4 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,419 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,532, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 33¢/kWh, 2.0 times what TX pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.6 m/s instead of 5.4. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of TX
Matagorda County is the 1,283rd windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in TX is Dallam County at 6.82 m/s, payback 24 years.
Month by month in Matagorda County
April is the strongest month here, at 6.15 m/s and about 1,710 kWh. August is the weakest, 4.30 m/s and 694 kWh, so the best month makes 2.5 times the worst. November to March brings in 50% of the year's output in Matagorda County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.89 m/s | 1,605 kWh | $257 |
| February | 6.01 m/s | 1,515 kWh | $243 |
| March | 6.02 m/s | 1,683 kWh | $270 |
| April | 6.15 m/s | 1,710 kWh | $274 |
| May | 5.78 m/s | 1,533 kWh | $246 |
| June | 4.92 m/s | 985 kWh | $158 |
| July | 4.55 m/s | 817 kWh | $131 |
| August | 4.30 m/s | 694 kWh | $111 |
| September | 4.64 m/s | 836 kWh | $134 |
| October | 5.23 m/s | 1,198 kWh | $192 |
| November | 5.56 m/s | 1,356 kWh | $217 |
| December | 5.80 m/s | 1,550 kWh | $248 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Matagorda County averages 4.15 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.11 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.240, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 11,892 to 20,520 kWh a year, 73% 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 | 4.9 m/s | 11,892 kWh | 53 years |
| 30 m | 5.41 m/s | 15,355 kWh | 41 years |
| 40 m | 5.79 m/s | 18,163 kWh | 34 years |
| 50 m | 6.11 m/s | 20,520 kWh | 30 years |
Counties around Matagorda County
4 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Calhoun County, averages 5.79 m/s.
- Wharton County, TX: 5.24 m/s, 14,186 kWh, payback 44 years (37 mi)
- Jackson County, TX: 5.42 m/s, 15,462 kWh, payback 40 years (38 mi)
- Calhoun County, TX: 5.79 m/s, 18,153 kWh, payback 34 years (42 mi)
- Brazoria County, TX: 5.56 m/s, 16,471 kWh, payback 38 years (44 mi)
- Fort Bend County, TX: 5.16 m/s, 13,629 kWh, payback 46 years (54 mi)
- Victoria County, TX: 5.42 m/s, 15,462 kWh, payback 40 years (59 mi)
Sun versus wind in Matagorda County
Matagorda County gets 4.86 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,419 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,532. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.1 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.