Wind Turbine Payback in Platte County, WY
Wind turbine payback in Platte 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 Platte County, WY averages 7.03 m/s (15.7 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 27,257 kWh a year, worth $3,819 at WY's 14.01¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 26 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Platte County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Platte County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.3 m/s at the hub against 7.03 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,311 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,726, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 18¢/kWh, 1.3 times what WY pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.3 m/s instead of 7.03. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of WY
Platte County is the 16th 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 Platte County
January is the strongest month here, at 9.18 m/s and about 3,452 kWh. July is the weakest, 5.20 m/s and 1,178 kWh, so the best month makes 2.9 times the worst. November to March brings in 56% of the year's output in Platte County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9.18 m/s | 3,452 kWh | $484 |
| February | 8.18 m/s | 2,682 kWh | $376 |
| March | 7.63 m/s | 2,668 kWh | $374 |
| April | 6.92 m/s | 2,174 kWh | $305 |
| May | 6.06 m/s | 1,712 kWh | $240 |
| June | 5.66 m/s | 1,416 kWh | $198 |
| July | 5.20 m/s | 1,178 kWh | $165 |
| August | 5.34 m/s | 1,265 kWh | $177 |
| September | 5.96 m/s | 1,596 kWh | $224 |
| October | 7.12 m/s | 2,367 kWh | $332 |
| November | 8.25 m/s | 2,911 kWh | $408 |
| December | 8.86 m/s | 3,306 kWh | $463 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Platte County averages 5.63 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.79 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.202, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 23,213 to 32,474 kWh a year, 40% 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 | 6.47 m/s | 23,213 kWh | 31 years |
| 30 m | 7.03 m/s | 27,230 kWh | 26 years |
| 40 m | 7.45 m/s | 30,172 kWh | 24 years |
| 50 m | 7.79 m/s | 32,474 kWh | 22 years |
Counties around Platte County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Albany County, averages 7.32 m/s.
- Goshen County, WY: 6.38 m/s, 22,521 kWh, payback 32 years (31 mi)
- Albany County, WY: 7.32 m/s, 29,299 kWh, payback 24 years (51 mi)
- Laramie County, WY: 6.76 m/s, 25,311 kWh, payback 28 years (60 mi)
- Converse County, WY: 6.97 m/s, 26,828 kWh, payback 27 years (66 mi)
- Sioux County, NE: 6.51 m/s, 23,481 kWh, payback 33 years (67 mi)
- Scotts Bluff County, NE: 6.25 m/s, 21,558 kWh, payback 36 years (67 mi)
Sun versus wind in Platte County
Platte County gets 4.49 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,311 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,726. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 2.1 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.