Wind Turbine Payback in Noble County, IN
Wind turbine payback in Noble 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 Noble County, IN averages 5.99 m/s (13.4 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 19,630 kWh a year, worth $3,345 at IN's 17.04¢/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 Noble County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Noble County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.3 m/s at the hub against 5.99 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,115 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,963, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 25¢/kWh, 1.5 times what IN pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.3 m/s instead of 5.99. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of IN
Noble County is the 858th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in IN is Lake County at 6.17 m/s, payback 28 years.
Month by month in Noble County
January is the strongest month here, at 6.81 m/s and about 2,182 kWh. August is the weakest, 4.61 m/s and 852 kWh, so the best month makes 2.6 times the worst. November to March brings in 51% of the year's output in Noble County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.81 m/s | 2,182 kWh | $372 |
| February | 6.72 m/s | 1,921 kWh | $327 |
| March | 6.56 m/s | 2,027 kWh | $345 |
| April | 6.87 m/s | 2,143 kWh | $365 |
| May | 5.92 m/s | 1,624 kWh | $277 |
| June | 5.17 m/s | 1,128 kWh | $192 |
| July | 4.62 m/s | 856 kWh | $146 |
| August | 4.61 m/s | 852 kWh | $145 |
| September | 5.22 m/s | 1,154 kWh | $197 |
| October | 6.28 m/s | 1,849 kWh | $315 |
| November | 6.61 m/s | 1,989 kWh | $339 |
| December | 6.58 m/s | 2,039 kWh | $347 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Noble County averages 4.67 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.73 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.227, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 15,793 to 25,093 kWh a year, 59% 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 | 5.47 m/s | 15,793 kWh | 37 years |
| 30 m | 5.99 m/s | 19,653 kWh | 30 years |
| 40 m | 6.4 m/s | 22,651 kWh | 26 years |
| 50 m | 6.73 m/s | 25,093 kWh | 23 years |
Counties around Noble County
None of the 6 closest counties is windier than Noble County.
- LaGrange County, IN: 5.99 m/s, 19,630 kWh, payback 30 years (16 mi)
- Whitley County, IN: 5.95 m/s, 19,334 kWh, payback 30 years (19 mi)
- DeKalb County, IN: 5.98 m/s, 19,556 kWh, payback 30 years (21 mi)
- Kosciusko County, IN: 5.95 m/s, 19,334 kWh, payback 30 years (26 mi)
- Elkhart County, IN: 5.99 m/s, 19,630 kWh, payback 30 years (27 mi)
- Steuben County, IN: 5.98 m/s, 19,556 kWh, payback 30 years (27 mi)
Sun versus wind in Noble County
Noble County gets 3.82 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,115 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,963. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.8 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.