Wind Turbine Payback in Orange County, TX
Wind turbine payback in Orange 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 Orange County, TX averages 4.69 m/s (10.5 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 10,508 kWh a year, worth $1,684 at TX's 16.03¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 59 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Orange County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Orange County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.6 m/s at the hub against 4.69 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,334 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,051, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 48¢/kWh, 3.0 times what TX pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.6 m/s instead of 4.69. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of TX
Orange County is the 1,626th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in TX is Dallam County at 6.82 m/s, payback 24 years.
Month by month in Orange County
April is the strongest month here, at 5.39 m/s and about 1,256 kWh. August is the weakest, 3.69 m/s and 435 kWh, so the best month makes 2.9 times the worst. November to March brings in 52% of the year's output in Orange County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.12 m/s | 1,134 kWh | $182 |
| February | 5.26 m/s | 1,100 kWh | $176 |
| March | 5.23 m/s | 1,197 kWh | $192 |
| April | 5.39 m/s | 1,256 kWh | $201 |
| May | 4.94 m/s | 1,032 kWh | $165 |
| June | 4.16 m/s | 610 kWh | $98 |
| July | 3.74 m/s | 455 kWh | $73 |
| August | 3.69 m/s | 435 kWh | $70 |
| September | 4.14 m/s | 602 kWh | $97 |
| October | 4.59 m/s | 838 kWh | $134 |
| November | 4.90 m/s | 974 kWh | $156 |
| December | 5.17 m/s | 1,165 kWh | $187 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Orange County averages 3.63 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.29 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.234, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 8,003 to 14,538 kWh a year, 82% 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 | 4.27 m/s | 8,003 kWh | 78 years |
| 30 m | 4.69 m/s | 10,533 kWh | 59 years |
| 40 m | 5.02 m/s | 12,676 kWh | 49 years |
| 50 m | 5.29 m/s | 14,538 kWh | 43 years |
Counties around Orange County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Calcasieu Parish, averages 5.34 m/s.
- Jefferson County, TX: 4.32 m/s, 8,289 kWh, payback 75 years (24 mi)
- Calcasieu Parish, LA: 5.34 m/s, 14,892 kWh, payback 51 years (33 mi)
- Hardin County, TX: 3.14 m/s, 3,034 kWh, payback over 100 years (33 mi)
- Jasper County, TX: 3.18 m/s, 3,165 kWh, payback over 100 years (44 mi)
- Newton County, TX: 3.18 m/s, 3,165 kWh, payback over 100 years (47 mi)
- Cameron Parish, LA: 5.34 m/s, 14,892 kWh, payback 51 years (47 mi)
Sun versus wind in Orange County
Orange County gets 4.57 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,334 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,051. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.3 times as much here as the turbine. 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.