Wind Turbine Payback in Rains County, TX
Wind turbine payback in Rains 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 Rains County, TX averages 5.53 m/s (12.4 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 16,254 kWh a year, worth $2,605 at TX's 16.03¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 38 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Rains County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Rains County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.6 m/s at the hub against 5.53 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,358 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,625, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 31¢/kWh, 1.9 times what TX pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.6 m/s instead of 5.53. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of TX
Rains County is the 1,195th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in TX is Dallam County at 6.82 m/s, payback 24 years.
Month by month in Rains County
March is the strongest month here, at 6.35 m/s and about 1,896 kWh. August is the weakest, 4.35 m/s and 719 kWh, so the best month makes 2.6 times the worst. November to March brings in 51% of the year's output in Rains County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.04 m/s | 1,701 kWh | $273 |
| February | 6.20 m/s | 1,627 kWh | $261 |
| March | 6.35 m/s | 1,896 kWh | $304 |
| April | 6.42 m/s | 1,878 kWh | $301 |
| May | 5.65 m/s | 1,453 kWh | $233 |
| June | 4.93 m/s | 993 kWh | $159 |
| July | 4.47 m/s | 780 kWh | $125 |
| August | 4.35 m/s | 719 kWh | $115 |
| September | 4.67 m/s | 852 kWh | $137 |
| October | 5.43 m/s | 1,317 kWh | $211 |
| November | 5.99 m/s | 1,614 kWh | $259 |
| December | 5.94 m/s | 1,635 kWh | $262 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Rains County averages 4.23 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.27 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 12,597 to 21,706 kWh a year, 72% 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 | 5.01 m/s | 12,597 kWh | 50 years |
| 30 m | 5.53 m/s | 16,271 kWh | 38 years |
| 40 m | 5.94 m/s | 19,233 kWh | 32 years |
| 50 m | 6.27 m/s | 21,706 kWh | 29 years |
Counties around Rains County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Hunt County, averages 5.71 m/s.
- Van Zandt County, TX: 5.44 m/s, 15,605 kWh, payback 40 years (22 mi)
- Hopkins County, TX: 5.53 m/s, 16,254 kWh, payback 38 years (23 mi)
- Hunt County, TX: 5.71 m/s, 17,565 kWh, payback 36 years (24 mi)
- Wood County, TX: 5.53 m/s, 16,254 kWh, payback 38 years (25 mi)
- Kaufman County, TX: 5.62 m/s, 16,907 kWh, payback 37 years (34 mi)
- Rockwall County, TX: 5.71 m/s, 17,565 kWh, payback 36 years (36 mi)
Sun versus wind in Rains County
Rains County gets 4.65 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,358 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,625. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.2 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.