Wind Turbine Payback in Pottawattamie County, IA
Wind turbine payback in Pottawattamie 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 Pottawattamie County, IA averages 6.31 m/s (14.1 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 22,003 kWh a year, worth $3,201 at IA's 14.55¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 31 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Pottawattamie County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Pottawattamie County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.1 m/s at the hub against 6.31 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,215 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,200, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 23¢/kWh, 1.6 times what IA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.1 m/s instead of 6.31. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of IA
Pottawattamie County is the 460th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in IA is Dickinson County at 6.59 m/s, payback 29 years.
Month by month in Pottawattamie County
April is the strongest month here, at 7.23 m/s and about 2,359 kWh. July is the weakest, 5.13 m/s and 1,141 kWh, so the best month makes 2.1 times the worst. November to March brings in 46% of the year's output in Pottawattamie County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.54 m/s | 2,011 kWh | $293 |
| February | 6.58 m/s | 1,841 kWh | $268 |
| March | 6.87 m/s | 2,216 kWh | $322 |
| April | 7.23 m/s | 2,359 kWh | $343 |
| May | 6.55 m/s | 2,016 kWh | $293 |
| June | 5.93 m/s | 1,576 kWh | $229 |
| July | 5.13 m/s | 1,141 kWh | $166 |
| August | 5.15 m/s | 1,152 kWh | $168 |
| September | 6.16 m/s | 1,718 kWh | $250 |
| October | 6.59 m/s | 2,044 kWh | $297 |
| November | 6.70 m/s | 2,043 kWh | $297 |
| December | 6.43 m/s | 1,944 kWh | $283 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Pottawattamie County averages 4.96 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.06 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.219, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 18,052 to 27,471 kWh a year, 52% 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 | 5.78 m/s | 18,052 kWh | 38 years |
| 30 m | 6.31 m/s | 22,023 kWh | 31 years |
| 40 m | 6.72 m/s | 25,044 kWh | 27 years |
| 50 m | 7.06 m/s | 27,471 kWh | 25 years |
Counties around Pottawattamie County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Shelby County, averages 6.35 m/s.
- Mills County, IA: 6.23 m/s, 21,410 kWh, payback 32 years (22 mi)
- Shelby County, IA: 6.35 m/s, 22,299 kWh, payback 31 years (26 mi)
- Harrison County, IA: 6.31 m/s, 22,003 kWh, payback 31 years (28 mi)
- Montgomery County, IA: 6.22 m/s, 21,336 kWh, payback 32 years (30 mi)
- Cass County, IA: 6.35 m/s, 22,299 kWh, payback 31 years (32 mi)
- Douglas County, NE: 6.33 m/s, 22,151 kWh, payback 35 years (32 mi)
Sun versus wind in Pottawattamie County
Pottawattamie County gets 4.16 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,215 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,200. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.8 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.