Wind Turbine Payback in Roberts County, TX
Wind turbine payback in Roberts 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 Roberts County, TX averages 6.74 m/s (15.1 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 25,166 kWh a year, worth $4,034 at TX's 16.03¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 25 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Roberts County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Roberts County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.6 m/s at the hub against 6.74 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,498 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,517, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 20¢/kWh, 1.2 times what TX pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.6 m/s instead of 6.74. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of TX
Roberts County is the 45th 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 Roberts County
April is the strongest month here, at 7.66 m/s and about 2,600 kWh. August is the weakest, 5.88 m/s and 1,600 kWh, so the best month makes 1.6 times the worst. November to March brings in 42% of the year's output in Roberts County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.58 m/s | 2,041 kWh | $327 |
| February | 6.76 m/s | 1,939 kWh | $311 |
| March | 7.15 m/s | 2,387 kWh | $383 |
| April | 7.66 m/s | 2,600 kWh | $417 |
| May | 6.92 m/s | 2,246 kWh | $360 |
| June | 7.00 m/s | 2,221 kWh | $356 |
| July | 6.08 m/s | 1,725 kWh | $277 |
| August | 5.88 m/s | 1,600 kWh | $256 |
| September | 6.49 m/s | 1,921 kWh | $308 |
| October | 6.77 m/s | 2,158 kWh | $346 |
| November | 6.92 m/s | 2,174 kWh | $348 |
| December | 6.62 m/s | 2,063 kWh | $331 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Roberts County averages 5.35 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.5 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.210, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 21,092 to 30,536 kWh a year, 45% 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 | 6.19 m/s | 21,092 kWh | 30 years |
| 30 m | 6.74 m/s | 25,145 kWh | 25 years |
| 40 m | 7.16 m/s | 28,156 kWh | 22 years |
| 50 m | 7.5 m/s | 30,536 kWh | 20 years |
Counties around Roberts County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Hemphill County, averages 6.76 m/s.
- Hutchinson County, TX: 6.68 m/s, 24,728 kWh, payback 25 years (29 mi)
- Gray County, TX: 6.7 m/s, 24,874 kWh, payback 25 years (30 mi)
- Ochiltree County, TX: 6.72 m/s, 25,020 kWh, payback 25 years (30 mi)
- Hemphill County, TX: 6.76 m/s, 25,311 kWh, payback 25 years (31 mi)
- Carson County, TX: 6.7 m/s, 24,874 kWh, payback 25 years (42 mi)
- Hansford County, TX: 6.63 m/s, 24,362 kWh, payback 26 years (42 mi)
Sun versus wind in Roberts County
Roberts County gets 5.13 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,498 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,517. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.7 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.