Wind Turbine Payback in Park County, CO
Wind turbine payback in Park 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 Park County, CO averages 5.21 m/s (11.7 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 13,976 kWh a year, worth $2,348 at CO's 16.8¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 43 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Park County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Park County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.4 m/s at the hub against 5.21 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,384 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,398, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 36¢/kWh, 2.1 times what CO pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.4 m/s instead of 5.21. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of CO
Park County is the 1,373rd windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in CO is Baca County at 6.65 m/s, payback 24 years.
Month by month in Park County
January is the strongest month here, at 6.26 m/s and about 1,840 kWh. August is the weakest, 3.61 m/s and 405 kWh, so the best month makes 4.5 times the worst. November to March brings in 59% of the year's output in Park County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.26 m/s | 1,840 kWh | $309 |
| February | 6.37 m/s | 1,723 kWh | $289 |
| March | 5.93 m/s | 1,630 kWh | $274 |
| April | 5.89 m/s | 1,551 kWh | $261 |
| May | 4.87 m/s | 993 kWh | $167 |
| June | 4.59 m/s | 815 kWh | $137 |
| July | 3.63 m/s | 411 kWh | $69 |
| August | 3.61 m/s | 405 kWh | $68 |
| September | 4.27 m/s | 659 kWh | $111 |
| October | 5.20 m/s | 1,179 kWh | $198 |
| November | 5.74 m/s | 1,464 kWh | $246 |
| December | 6.24 m/s | 1,823 kWh | $306 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Park County averages 4.13 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.81 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.212, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 11,110 to 18,300 kWh a year, 65% 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 | 4.78 m/s | 11,110 kWh | 54 years |
| 30 m | 5.21 m/s | 14,002 kWh | 43 years |
| 40 m | 5.54 m/s | 16,337 kWh | 36 years |
| 50 m | 5.81 m/s | 18,300 kWh | 33 years |
Counties around Park County
None of the 6 closest counties is windier than Park County.
- Teller County, CO: 5.09 m/s, 13,146 kWh, payback 45 years (33 mi)
- Lake County, CO: 5.03 m/s, 12,737 kWh, payback 47 years (34 mi)
- Clear Creek County, CO: 4.63 m/s, 10,132 kWh, payback 59 years (39 mi)
- Jefferson County, CO: 4.97 m/s, 12,333 kWh, payback 48 years (41 mi)
- Chaffee County, CO: 5.01 m/s, 12,602 kWh, payback 47 years (41 mi)
- Summit County, CO: 3.59 m/s, 4,694 kWh, payback over 100 years (41 mi)
Sun versus wind in Park County
Park County gets 4.74 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,384 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,398. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.0 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.