Wind Turbine Payback in Rolette County, ND
Wind turbine payback in Rolette 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 Rolette County, ND averages 5.79 m/s (13 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 18,153 kWh a year, worth $2,262 at ND's 12.46¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 44 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Rolette County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Rolette County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 9.1 m/s at the hub against 5.79 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,130 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,815, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 28¢/kWh, 2.2 times what ND pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 9.1 m/s instead of 5.79. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of ND
Rolette County is the 1,080th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in ND is Bowman County at 6.79 m/s, payback 31 years.
Month by month in Rolette County
March is the strongest month here, at 6.25 m/s and about 1,834 kWh. July is the weakest, 4.97 m/s and 1,048 kWh, so the best month makes 1.8 times the worst. November to March brings in 45% of the year's output in Rolette County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.02 m/s | 1,689 kWh | $210 |
| February | 5.85 m/s | 1,425 kWh | $178 |
| March | 6.25 m/s | 1,834 kWh | $229 |
| April | 6.34 m/s | 1,828 kWh | $228 |
| May | 6.06 m/s | 1,711 kWh | $213 |
| June | 5.47 m/s | 1,299 kWh | $162 |
| July | 4.97 m/s | 1,048 kWh | $131 |
| August | 5.02 m/s | 1,079 kWh | $134 |
| September | 5.60 m/s | 1,377 kWh | $172 |
| October | 6.10 m/s | 1,739 kWh | $217 |
| November | 6.05 m/s | 1,650 kWh | $206 |
| December | 5.79 m/s | 1,539 kWh | $192 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Rolette County averages 4.45 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.55 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.240, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 14,305 to 23,775 kWh a year, 66% 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 | 5.26 m/s | 14,305 kWh | 56 years |
| 30 m | 5.79 m/s | 18,184 kWh | 44 years |
| 40 m | 6.21 m/s | 21,250 kWh | 38 years |
| 50 m | 6.55 m/s | 23,775 kWh | 34 years |
Counties around Rolette County
5 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Ramsey County, averages 6.53 m/s.
- Towner County, ND: 6.36 m/s, 22,373 kWh, payback 36 years (28 mi)
- Pierce County, ND: 6.39 m/s, 22,595 kWh, payback 36 years (37 mi)
- Bottineau County, ND: 5.7 m/s, 17,492 kWh, payback 46 years (45 mi)
- McHenry County, ND: 6.42 m/s, 22,817 kWh, payback 35 years (52 mi)
- Benson County, ND: 6.44 m/s, 22,964 kWh, payback 35 years (53 mi)
- Ramsey County, ND: 6.53 m/s, 23,628 kWh, payback 34 years (61 mi)
Sun versus wind in Rolette County
Rolette County gets 3.87 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,130 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,815. 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.