Wind Turbine Payback in Medina County, TX
Wind turbine payback in Medina 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 Medina County, TX averages 5.43 m/s (12.1 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 15,534 kWh a year, worth $2,490 at TX's 16.03¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 40 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Medina County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Medina County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.6 m/s at the hub against 5.43 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,416 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,553, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 32¢/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 5.43. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of TX
Medina County is the 1,252nd 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 Medina County
April is the strongest month here, at 6.08 m/s and about 1,671 kWh. September is the weakest, 4.78 m/s and 909 kWh, so the best month makes 1.8 times the worst. November to March brings in 43% of the year's output in Medina County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.39 m/s | 1,296 kWh | $208 |
| February | 5.61 m/s | 1,293 kWh | $207 |
| March | 5.89 m/s | 1,604 kWh | $257 |
| April | 6.08 m/s | 1,671 kWh | $268 |
| May | 5.84 m/s | 1,576 kWh | $253 |
| June | 5.47 m/s | 1,301 kWh | $209 |
| July | 5.11 m/s | 1,126 kWh | $180 |
| August | 4.81 m/s | 959 kWh | $154 |
| September | 4.78 m/s | 909 kWh | $146 |
| October | 5.30 m/s | 1,242 kWh | $199 |
| November | 5.45 m/s | 1,290 kWh | $207 |
| December | 5.36 m/s | 1,279 kWh | $205 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Medina County averages 4.22 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.1 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.229, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 12,168 to 20,446 kWh a year, 68% 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 | 4.95 m/s | 12,168 kWh | 51 years |
| 30 m | 5.43 m/s | 15,509 kWh | 40 years |
| 40 m | 5.8 m/s | 18,198 kWh | 34 years |
| 50 m | 6.1 m/s | 20,446 kWh | 31 years |
Counties around Medina County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Bandera County, averages 5.9 m/s.
- Bandera County, TX: 5.9 m/s, 18,964 kWh, payback 33 years (29 mi)
- Frio County, TX: 5.29 m/s, 14,538 kWh, payback 43 years (33 mi)
- Bexar County, TX: 5.38 m/s, 15,176 kWh, payback 41 years (36 mi)
- Uvalde County, TX: 5.61 m/s, 16,834 kWh, payback 37 years (40 mi)
- Atascosa County, TX: 5.31 m/s, 14,679 kWh, payback 43 years (47 mi)
- Kendall County, TX: 5.75 m/s, 17,859 kWh, payback 35 years (47 mi)
Sun versus wind in Medina County
Medina County gets 4.85 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,416 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,553. 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.