Wind Turbine Payback in Minidoka County, ID
Wind turbine payback in Minidoka 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 Minidoka County, ID averages 4.93 m/s (11 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 12,065 kWh a year, worth $1,571 at ID's 13.02¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 64 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Minidoka County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Minidoka County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.7 m/s at the hub against 4.93 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,337 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,207, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 41¢/kWh, 3.2 times what ID pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.7 m/s instead of 4.93. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of ID
Minidoka County is the 1,494th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in ID is Owyhee County at 5.38 m/s, payback 51 years.
Month by month in Minidoka County
March is the strongest month here, at 5.37 m/s and about 1,282 kWh. September is the weakest, 4.51 m/s and 773 kWh, so the best month makes 1.7 times the worst. November to March brings in 44% of the year's output in Minidoka County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.90 m/s | 1,010 kWh | $132 |
| February | 5.17 m/s | 1,052 kWh | $137 |
| March | 5.37 m/s | 1,282 kWh | $167 |
| April | 5.31 m/s | 1,209 kWh | $157 |
| May | 5.00 m/s | 1,066 kWh | $139 |
| June | 5.10 m/s | 1,086 kWh | $141 |
| July | 4.68 m/s | 887 kWh | $115 |
| August | 4.59 m/s | 840 kWh | $109 |
| September | 4.51 m/s | 773 kWh | $101 |
| October | 4.76 m/s | 931 kWh | $121 |
| November | 4.96 m/s | 1,007 kWh | $131 |
| December | 4.80 m/s | 950 kWh | $124 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Minidoka County averages 3.87 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.52 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.221, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 9,387 to 16,181 kWh a year, 72% 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 | 4.51 m/s | 9,387 kWh | 82 years |
| 30 m | 4.93 m/s | 12,070 kWh | 64 years |
| 40 m | 5.25 m/s | 14,287 kWh | 54 years |
| 50 m | 5.52 m/s | 16,181 kWh | 48 years |
Counties around Minidoka County
4 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Jerome County, averages 5.3 m/s.
- Lincoln County, ID: 4.97 m/s, 12,333 kWh, payback 62 years (28 mi)
- Jerome County, ID: 5.3 m/s, 14,608 kWh, payback 53 years (34 mi)
- Cassia County, ID: 4.98 m/s, 12,400 kWh, payback 62 years (40 mi)
- Blaine County, ID: 4.2 m/s, 7,623 kWh, payback over 100 years (40 mi)
- Power County, ID: 4.79 m/s, 11,147 kWh, payback 69 years (42 mi)
- Gooding County, ID: 4.99 m/s, 12,467 kWh, payback 62 years (60 mi)
Sun versus wind in Minidoka County
Minidoka County gets 4.58 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,337 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,207. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.1 times as much here as the turbine. 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.