Wind Turbine Payback in Palm Beach County, FL
Wind turbine payback in Palm Beach 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 Palm Beach County, FL averages 4.67 m/s (10.4 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 10,382 kWh a year, worth $1,591 at FL's 15.32¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 63 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Palm Beach County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Palm Beach County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.8 m/s at the hub against 4.67 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,410 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,038, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 48¢/kWh, 3.1 times what FL pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.8 m/s instead of 4.67. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of FL
Palm Beach County is the 1,639th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in FL is Brevard County at 5.62 m/s, payback 39 years.
Month by month in Palm Beach County
March is the strongest month here, at 5.45 m/s and about 1,333 kWh. July is the weakest, 3.36 m/s and 321 kWh, so the best month makes 4.2 times the worst. November to March brings in 56% of the year's output in Palm Beach County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.33 m/s | 1,257 kWh | $193 |
| February | 5.20 m/s | 1,068 kWh | $164 |
| March | 5.45 m/s | 1,333 kWh | $204 |
| April | 5.20 m/s | 1,144 kWh | $175 |
| May | 4.69 m/s | 894 kWh | $137 |
| June | 3.69 m/s | 422 kWh | $65 |
| July | 3.36 m/s | 321 kWh | $49 |
| August | 3.48 m/s | 361 kWh | $55 |
| September | 4.09 m/s | 577 kWh | $88 |
| October | 5.02 m/s | 1,078 kWh | $165 |
| November | 5.31 m/s | 1,206 kWh | $185 |
| December | 5.26 m/s | 1,220 kWh | $187 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Palm Beach County averages 3.65 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.23 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.223, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 7,972 to 14,116 kWh a year, 77% 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 | 4.26 m/s | 7,972 kWh | 82 years |
| 30 m | 4.67 m/s | 10,363 kWh | 63 years |
| 40 m | 4.98 m/s | 12,374 kWh | 53 years |
| 50 m | 5.23 m/s | 14,116 kWh | 46 years |
Counties around Palm Beach County
4 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Broward County, averages 4.98 m/s.
- Martin County, FL: 4.82 m/s, 11,341 kWh, payback 58 years (30 mi)
- Broward County, FL: 4.98 m/s, 12,400 kWh, payback 53 years (32 mi)
- Hendry County, FL: 4.29 m/s, 8,120 kWh, payback 80 years (44 mi)
- Glades County, FL: 4.38 m/s, 8,632 kWh, payback 76 years (50 mi)
- St. Lucie County, FL: 4.78 m/s, 11,082 kWh, payback 59 years (50 mi)
- Okeechobee County, FL: 4.78 m/s, 11,082 kWh, payback 59 years (58 mi)
Sun versus wind in Palm Beach County
Palm Beach County gets 4.83 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,410 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,038. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.4 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.