Wind Turbine Payback in Mitchell County, KS
Wind turbine payback in Mitchell 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 Mitchell County, KS averages 6.26 m/s (14 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 21,632 kWh a year, worth $3,301 at KS's 15.26¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 30 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Mitchell County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Mitchell County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.8 m/s at the hub against 6.26 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,332 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,163, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 23¢/kWh, 1.5 times what KS pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.8 m/s instead of 6.26. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of KS
Mitchell County is the 520th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in KS is Edwards County at 6.68 m/s, payback 27 years.
Month by month in Mitchell County
April is the strongest month here, at 7.12 m/s and about 2,294 kWh. August is the weakest, 5.36 m/s and 1,275 kWh, so the best month makes 1.8 times the worst. November to March brings in 42% of the year's output in Mitchell County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.09 m/s | 1,729 kWh | $264 |
| February | 6.22 m/s | 1,638 kWh | $250 |
| March | 6.72 m/s | 2,126 kWh | $324 |
| April | 7.12 m/s | 2,294 kWh | $350 |
| May | 6.43 m/s | 1,942 kWh | $296 |
| June | 6.35 m/s | 1,831 kWh | $279 |
| July | 5.53 m/s | 1,379 kWh | $210 |
| August | 5.36 m/s | 1,275 kWh | $195 |
| September | 6.36 m/s | 1,836 kWh | $280 |
| October | 6.52 m/s | 1,998 kWh | $305 |
| November | 6.44 m/s | 1,885 kWh | $288 |
| December | 6.04 m/s | 1,701 kWh | $260 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Mitchell County averages 4.89 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.02 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.225, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 17,581 to 27,186 kWh a year, 55% 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 | 5.71 m/s | 17,581 kWh | 37 years |
| 30 m | 6.26 m/s | 21,616 kWh | 30 years |
| 40 m | 6.68 m/s | 24,701 kWh | 27 years |
| 50 m | 7.02 m/s | 27,186 kWh | 24 years |
Counties around Mitchell County
6 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Jewell County, averages 6.4 m/s.
- Lincoln County, KS: 6.36 m/s, 22,373 kWh, payback 29 years (24 mi)
- Jewell County, KS: 6.4 m/s, 22,669 kWh, payback 29 years (27 mi)
- Osborne County, KS: 6.27 m/s, 21,706 kWh, payback 30 years (30 mi)
- Cloud County, KS: 6.29 m/s, 21,855 kWh, payback 30 years (31 mi)
- Ottawa County, KS: 6.31 m/s, 22,003 kWh, payback 30 years (34 mi)
- Smith County, KS: 6.38 m/s, 22,521 kWh, payback 29 years (41 mi)
Sun versus wind in Mitchell County
Mitchell County gets 4.56 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,332 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,163. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.6 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.