Wind Turbine Payback in Park County, WY
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, WY averages 4.5 m/s (10.1 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 9,339 kWh a year, worth $1,308 at WY's 14.01¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 76 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, 8.3 m/s at the hub against 4.5 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,241 kWh a year here against the turbine's 934, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 54¢/kWh, 3.8 times what WY pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.3 m/s instead of 4.5. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of WY
Park County is the 1,743rd windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in WY is Albany County at 7.32 m/s, payback 24 years.
Month by month in Park County
January is the strongest month here, at 6.27 m/s and about 1,846 kWh. August is the weakest, 3.04 m/s and 232 kWh, so the best month makes 8.0 times the worst. November to March brings in 70% of the year's output in Park County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.27 m/s | 1,846 kWh | $259 |
| February | 5.47 m/s | 1,214 kWh | $170 |
| March | 5.12 m/s | 1,133 kWh | $159 |
| April | 4.31 m/s | 675 kWh | $95 |
| May | 3.67 m/s | 428 kWh | $60 |
| June | 3.58 m/s | 383 kWh | $54 |
| July | 3.12 m/s | 253 kWh | $35 |
| August | 3.04 m/s | 232 kWh | $33 |
| September | 3.56 m/s | 377 kWh | $53 |
| October | 4.43 m/s | 758 kWh | $106 |
| November | 5.49 m/s | 1,311 kWh | $184 |
| December | 6.00 m/s | 1,674 kWh | $235 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Park County averages 3.44 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.1 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.245, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 6,957 to 13,215 kWh a year, 90% 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 | 4.07 m/s | 6,957 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 4.5 m/s | 9,339 kWh | 76 years |
| 40 m | 4.83 m/s | 11,398 kWh | 63 years |
| 50 m | 5.1 m/s | 13,215 kWh | 54 years |
Counties around Park County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Stillwater County, averages 5.8 m/s.
- Teton County, WY: 3.63 m/s, 4,862 kWh, payback over 100 years (51 mi)
- Carbon County, MT: 4.41 m/s, 8,807 kWh, payback 80 years (58 mi)
- Hot Springs County, WY: 4.66 m/s, 10,320 kWh, payback 69 years (78 mi)
- Big Horn County, WY: 4.34 m/s, 8,403 kWh, payback 85 years (79 mi)
- Stillwater County, MT: 5.8 m/s, 18,226 kWh, payback 39 years (81 mi)
- Park County, MT: 4.68 m/s, 10,445 kWh, payback 68 years (81 mi)
Sun versus wind in Park County
Park County gets 4.25 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,241 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 934. 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.