Wind Turbine Payback in Red Willow County, NE
Wind turbine payback in Red Willow 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 Red Willow County, NE averages 6.29 m/s (14.1 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 21,855 kWh a year, worth $2,824 at NE's 12.92¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 35 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Red Willow County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Red Willow County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.8 m/s at the hub against 6.29 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,346 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,186, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 23¢/kWh, 1.8 times what NE pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.8 m/s instead of 6.29. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of NE
Red Willow County is the 482nd windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in NE is Cherry County at 6.83 m/s, payback 30 years.
Month by month in Red Willow County
April is the strongest month here, at 7.03 m/s and about 2,242 kWh. August is the weakest, 5.54 m/s and 1,387 kWh, so the best month makes 1.6 times the worst. November to March brings in 43% of the year's output in Red Willow County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.28 m/s | 1,852 kWh | $239 |
| February | 6.34 m/s | 1,703 kWh | $220 |
| March | 6.61 m/s | 2,059 kWh | $266 |
| April | 7.03 m/s | 2,242 kWh | $290 |
| May | 6.41 m/s | 1,930 kWh | $249 |
| June | 6.12 m/s | 1,694 kWh | $219 |
| July | 5.65 m/s | 1,453 kWh | $188 |
| August | 5.54 m/s | 1,387 kWh | $179 |
| September | 6.33 m/s | 1,819 kWh | $235 |
| October | 6.50 m/s | 1,986 kWh | $257 |
| November | 6.43 m/s | 1,879 kWh | $243 |
| December | 6.26 m/s | 1,840 kWh | $238 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Red Willow County averages 4.94 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.04 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.220, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 17,893 to 27,328 kWh a year, 53% 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 | 5.75 m/s | 17,893 kWh | 43 years |
| 30 m | 6.29 m/s | 21,867 kWh | 35 years |
| 40 m | 6.7 m/s | 24,894 kWh | 31 years |
| 50 m | 7.04 m/s | 27,328 kWh | 28 years |
Counties around Red Willow County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Frontier County, averages 6.31 m/s.
- Frontier County, NE: 6.31 m/s, 22,003 kWh, payback 35 years (25 mi)
- Decatur County, KS: 6.29 m/s, 21,855 kWh, payback 30 years (27 mi)
- Furnas County, NE: 6.31 m/s, 22,003 kWh, payback 35 years (30 mi)
- Hitchcock County, NE: 6.24 m/s, 21,484 kWh, payback 36 years (30 mi)
- Hayes County, NE: 6.27 m/s, 21,706 kWh, payback 36 years (40 mi)
- Norton County, KS: 6.31 m/s, 22,003 kWh, payback 30 years (40 mi)
Sun versus wind in Red Willow County
Red Willow County gets 4.61 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,346 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,186. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.6 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.