Wind Turbine Payback in Nowata County, OK
Wind turbine payback in Nowata 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 Nowata County, OK averages 6.03 m/s (13.5 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 19,926 kWh a year, worth $2,752 at OK's 13.81¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 36 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Nowata County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Nowata County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.4 m/s at the hub against 6.03 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,308 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,993, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 25¢/kWh, 1.8 times what OK pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.4 m/s instead of 6.03. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of OK
Nowata County is the 791st 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 Nowata County
April is the strongest month here, at 7.10 m/s and about 2,283 kWh. August is the weakest, 4.81 m/s and 959 kWh, so the best month makes 2.4 times the worst. November to March brings in 48% of the year's output in Nowata County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.25 m/s | 1,834 kWh | $253 |
| February | 6.41 m/s | 1,747 kWh | $241 |
| March | 6.81 m/s | 2,182 kWh | $301 |
| April | 7.10 m/s | 2,283 kWh | $315 |
| May | 6.13 m/s | 1,756 kWh | $243 |
| June | 5.71 m/s | 1,441 kWh | $199 |
| July | 4.86 m/s | 984 kWh | $136 |
| August | 4.81 m/s | 959 kWh | $132 |
| September | 5.30 m/s | 1,200 kWh | $166 |
| October | 6.20 m/s | 1,800 kWh | $249 |
| November | 6.53 m/s | 1,941 kWh | $268 |
| December | 6.19 m/s | 1,795 kWh | $248 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Nowata County averages 4.63 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.81 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.240, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 15,789 to 25,675 kWh a year, 63% 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 | 15,789 kWh | 46 years |
| 30 m | 6.02 m/s | 19,884 kWh | 36 years |
| 40 m | 6.45 m/s | 23,074 kWh | 31 years |
| 50 m | 6.81 m/s | 25,675 kWh | 28 years |
Counties around Nowata County
None of the 6 closest counties is windier than Nowata County.
- Washington County, OK: 5.9 m/s, 18,964 kWh, payback 38 years (17 mi)
- Craig County, OK: 5.88 m/s, 18,816 kWh, payback 39 years (23 mi)
- Rogers County, OK: 5.9 m/s, 18,964 kWh, payback 38 years (28 mi)
- Montgomery County, KS: 6.03 m/s, 19,926 kWh, payback 33 years (29 mi)
- Labette County, KS: 5.88 m/s, 18,816 kWh, payback 35 years (33 mi)
- Mayes County, OK: 5.2 m/s, 13,907 kWh, payback 52 years (40 mi)
Sun versus wind in Nowata County
Nowata County gets 4.48 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,308 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,993. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.5 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.