Wind Turbine Payback in Muskogee County, OK
Wind turbine payback in Muskogee 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 Muskogee County, OK averages 5.63 m/s (12.6 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 16,980 kWh a year, worth $2,345 at OK's 13.81¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 43 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Muskogee County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Muskogee County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.4 m/s at the hub against 5.63 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,314 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,698, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 29¢/kWh, 2.1 times what OK pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.4 m/s instead of 5.63. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of OK
Muskogee County is the 1,151st windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in OK is Cimarron County at 6.82 m/s, payback 28 years.
Month by month in Muskogee County
April is the strongest month here, at 6.61 m/s and about 1,990 kWh. August is the weakest, 4.41 m/s and 749 kWh, so the best month makes 2.7 times the worst. November to March brings in 50% of the year's output in Muskogee County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.02 m/s | 1,685 kWh | $233 |
| February | 6.16 m/s | 1,602 kWh | $221 |
| March | 6.48 m/s | 1,973 kWh | $272 |
| April | 6.61 m/s | 1,990 kWh | $275 |
| May | 5.78 m/s | 1,535 kWh | $212 |
| June | 5.15 m/s | 1,116 kWh | $154 |
| July | 4.46 m/s | 771 kWh | $106 |
| August | 4.41 m/s | 749 kWh | $103 |
| September | 4.76 m/s | 903 kWh | $125 |
| October | 5.68 m/s | 1,475 kWh | $204 |
| November | 6.18 m/s | 1,727 kWh | $238 |
| December | 5.90 m/s | 1,613 kWh | $223 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Muskogee County averages 4.3 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.38 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.245, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 13,195 to 22,521 kWh a year, 71% 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 | 5.1 m/s | 13,195 kWh | 55 years |
| 30 m | 5.63 m/s | 16,976 kWh | 43 years |
| 40 m | 6.04 m/s | 20,005 kWh | 36 years |
| 50 m | 6.38 m/s | 22,521 kWh | 32 years |
Counties around Muskogee County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Okmulgee County, averages 6.11 m/s.
- McIntosh County, OK: 5.63 m/s, 16,980 kWh, payback 43 years (24 mi)
- Wagoner County, OK: 5.47 m/s, 15,821 kWh, payback 46 years (25 mi)
- Cherokee County, OK: 4.28 m/s, 8,064 kWh, payback 90 years (29 mi)
- Haskell County, OK: 4 m/s, 6,577 kWh, payback over 100 years (31 mi)
- Okmulgee County, OK: 6.11 m/s, 20,520 kWh, payback 35 years (33 mi)
- Sequoyah County, OK: 4.62 m/s, 10,070 kWh, payback 72 years (36 mi)
Sun versus wind in Muskogee County
Muskogee County gets 4.5 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,314 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,698. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.3 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.