Wind Turbine Payback in Mississippi County, MO
Wind turbine payback in Mississippi 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 Mississippi County, MO averages 5.23 m/s (11.7 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 14,116 kWh a year, worth $2,016 at MO's 14.28¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 50 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Mississippi County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Mississippi County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.2 m/s at the hub against 5.23 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,276 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,412, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 35¢/kWh, 2.5 times what MO pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.2 m/s instead of 5.23. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of MO
Mississippi County is the 1,360th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in MO is Atchison County at 6.17 m/s, payback 33 years.
Month by month in Mississippi County
April is the strongest month here, at 6.27 m/s and about 1,784 kWh. July is the weakest, 3.86 m/s and 500 kWh, so the best month makes 3.6 times the worst. November to March brings in 54% of the year's output in Mississippi County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.88 m/s | 1,601 kWh | $229 |
| February | 5.95 m/s | 1,481 kWh | $211 |
| March | 6.12 m/s | 1,750 kWh | $250 |
| April | 6.27 m/s | 1,784 kWh | $255 |
| May | 5.30 m/s | 1,239 kWh | $177 |
| June | 4.41 m/s | 724 kWh | $103 |
| July | 3.86 m/s | 500 kWh | $71 |
| August | 3.92 m/s | 525 kWh | $75 |
| September | 4.38 m/s | 712 kWh | $102 |
| October | 5.25 m/s | 1,213 kWh | $173 |
| November | 5.73 m/s | 1,454 kWh | $208 |
| December | 5.67 m/s | 1,469 kWh | $210 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Mississippi County averages 3.94 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.96 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.257, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 10,632 to 19,408 kWh a year, 83% 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 | 4.71 m/s | 10,632 kWh | 66 years |
| 30 m | 5.23 m/s | 14,093 kWh | 50 years |
| 40 m | 5.63 m/s | 16,964 kWh | 41 years |
| 50 m | 5.96 m/s | 19,408 kWh | 36 years |
Counties around Mississippi County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Fulton County, averages 5.54 m/s.
- Carlisle County, KY: 5.03 m/s, 12,737 kWh, payback 55 years (18 mi)
- Fulton County, KY: 5.54 m/s, 16,326 kWh, payback 43 years (20 mi)
- Hickman County, KY: 5.26 m/s, 14,327 kWh, payback 49 years (21 mi)
- Scott County, MO: 5.23 m/s, 14,116 kWh, payback 50 years (21 mi)
- Ballard County, KY: 5.03 m/s, 12,737 kWh, payback 55 years (22 mi)
- Alexander County, IL: 5.23 m/s, 14,116 kWh, payback 37 years (25 mi)
Sun versus wind in Mississippi County
Mississippi County gets 4.37 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,276 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,412. 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.