Wind Turbine Payback in Owen County, IN
Wind turbine payback in Owen 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 Owen County, IN averages 5.14 m/s (11.5 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 13,490 kWh a year, worth $2,299 at IN's 17.04¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 44 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Owen County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Owen County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.3 m/s at the hub against 5.14 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,168 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,349, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 37¢/kWh, 2.2 times what IN pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.3 m/s instead of 5.14. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of IN
Owen County is the 1,396th 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 Owen County
April is the strongest month here, at 6.04 m/s and about 1,645 kWh. July is the weakest, 3.84 m/s and 491 kWh, so the best month makes 3.4 times the worst. November to March brings in 54% of the year's output in Owen County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.87 m/s | 1,591 kWh | $271 |
| February | 5.85 m/s | 1,427 kWh | $243 |
| March | 5.87 m/s | 1,591 kWh | $271 |
| April | 6.04 m/s | 1,645 kWh | $280 |
| May | 5.11 m/s | 1,130 kWh | $193 |
| June | 4.43 m/s | 732 kWh | $125 |
| July | 3.84 m/s | 491 kWh | $84 |
| August | 3.87 m/s | 505 kWh | $86 |
| September | 4.37 m/s | 703 kWh | $120 |
| October | 5.24 m/s | 1,207 kWh | $206 |
| November | 5.64 m/s | 1,403 kWh | $239 |
| December | 5.60 m/s | 1,423 kWh | $242 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Owen County averages 3.79 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.92 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.277, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 9,903 to 19,112 kWh a year, 93% 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 | 4.59 m/s | 9,903 kWh | 59 years |
| 30 m | 5.14 m/s | 13,483 kWh | 44 years |
| 40 m | 5.57 m/s | 16,509 kWh | 36 years |
| 50 m | 5.92 m/s | 19,112 kWh | 31 years |
Counties around Owen County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Vigo County, averages 5.76 m/s.
- Clay County, IN: 5.14 m/s, 13,490 kWh, payback 44 years (16 mi)
- Monroe County, IN: 4.32 m/s, 8,289 kWh, payback 71 years (20 mi)
- Greene County, IN: 4.68 m/s, 10,445 kWh, payback 56 years (21 mi)
- Morgan County, IN: 5.09 m/s, 13,146 kWh, payback 45 years (24 mi)
- Putnam County, IN: 5.14 m/s, 13,490 kWh, payback 44 years (24 mi)
- Vigo County, IN: 5.76 m/s, 17,932 kWh, payback 33 years (31 mi)
Sun versus wind in Owen County
Owen County gets 4 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,168 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,349. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.2 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.