Wind Turbine Payback in Miami-Dade County, FL
Wind turbine payback in Miami-Dade 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 Miami-Dade County, FL averages 5.33 m/s (11.9 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 14,821 kWh a year, worth $2,271 at FL's 15.32¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 44 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Miami-Dade County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Miami-Dade County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.8 m/s at the hub against 5.33 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,463 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,482, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 34¢/kWh, 2.2 times what FL pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.8 m/s instead of 5.33. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of FL
Miami-Dade County is the 1,315th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in FL is Brevard County at 5.62 m/s, payback 39 years.
Month by month in Miami-Dade County
March is the strongest month here, at 6.08 m/s and about 1,726 kWh. July is the weakest, 3.93 m/s and 530 kWh, so the best month makes 3.3 times the worst. November to March brings in 54% of the year's output in Miami-Dade County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.05 m/s | 1,702 kWh | $261 |
| February | 5.83 m/s | 1,412 kWh | $216 |
| March | 6.08 m/s | 1,726 kWh | $264 |
| April | 5.83 m/s | 1,519 kWh | $233 |
| May | 5.32 m/s | 1,252 kWh | $192 |
| June | 4.28 m/s | 661 kWh | $101 |
| July | 3.93 m/s | 530 kWh | $81 |
| August | 4.08 m/s | 595 kWh | $91 |
| September | 4.56 m/s | 799 kWh | $122 |
| October | 5.86 m/s | 1,588 kWh | $243 |
| November | 6.11 m/s | 1,688 kWh | $259 |
| December | 6.03 m/s | 1,690 kWh | $259 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Miami-Dade County averages 4.84 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.57 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.087, typical of very open, smooth ground where height adds little. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 13,513 to 16,544 kWh a year, 22% 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 | 5.14 m/s | 13,513 kWh | 48 years |
| 30 m | 5.33 m/s | 14,806 kWh | 44 years |
| 40 m | 5.46 m/s | 15,770 kWh | 41 years |
| 50 m | 5.57 m/s | 16,544 kWh | 40 years |
Counties around Miami-Dade County
None of the 6 closest counties is windier than Miami-Dade County.
- Monroe County, FL: 4.94 m/s, 12,132 kWh, payback 54 years (32 mi)
- Broward County, FL: 4.98 m/s, 12,400 kWh, payback 53 years (40 mi)
- Collier County, FL: 4.53 m/s, 9,519 kWh, payback 69 years (66 mi)
- Palm Beach County, FL: 4.67 m/s, 10,382 kWh, payback 63 years (71 mi)
- Hendry County, FL: 4.29 m/s, 8,120 kWh, payback 80 years (75 mi)
- Martin County, FL: 4.82 m/s, 11,341 kWh, payback 58 years (102 mi)
Sun versus wind in Miami-Dade County
Miami-Dade County gets 5.01 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,463 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,482. 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.