Wind Turbine Payback in Salt Lake County, UT
Wind turbine payback in Salt Lake 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 Salt Lake County, UT averages 3.41 m/s (7.6 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 3,980 kWh a year, worth $525 at UT's 13.19¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of over 100 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Salt Lake County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Salt Lake County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.7 m/s at the hub against 3.41 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,402 kWh a year here against the turbine's 398, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 126¢/kWh, 9.5 times what UT pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.7 m/s instead of 3.41. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of UT
Salt Lake County is the 2,607th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in UT is Daggett County at 5.32 m/s, payback 51 years.
Month by month in Salt Lake County
April is the strongest month here, at 3.87 m/s and about 487 kWh. January is the weakest, 3.14 m/s and 258 kWh, so the best month makes 1.9 times the worst. November to March brings in 40% of the year's output in Salt Lake County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.14 m/s | 258 kWh | $34 |
| February | 3.40 m/s | 302 kWh | $40 |
| March | 3.71 m/s | 443 kWh | $58 |
| April | 3.87 m/s | 487 kWh | $64 |
| May | 3.43 m/s | 343 kWh | $45 |
| June | 3.63 m/s | 399 kWh | $53 |
| July | 3.22 m/s | 282 kWh | $37 |
| August | 3.34 m/s | 317 kWh | $42 |
| September | 3.36 m/s | 313 kWh | $41 |
| October | 3.29 m/s | 300 kWh | $40 |
| November | 3.33 m/s | 304 kWh | $40 |
| December | 3.26 m/s | 292 kWh | $39 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Salt Lake County averages 2.84 m/s; at 50 m it is 3.71 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.166, typical of very open, smooth ground where height adds little. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 3,187 to 5,209 kWh a year, 63% 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 | 3.19 m/s | 3,187 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.41 m/s | 3,974 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 3.58 m/s | 4,632 kWh | over 100 years |
| 50 m | 3.71 m/s | 5,209 kWh | over 100 years |
Counties around Salt Lake County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Davis County, averages 3.95 m/s.
- Davis County, UT: 3.95 m/s, 6,329 kWh, payback over 100 years (29 mi)
- Morgan County, UT: 3.22 m/s, 3,299 kWh, payback over 100 years (34 mi)
- Utah County, UT: 3.6 m/s, 4,736 kWh, payback over 100 years (40 mi)
- Weber County, UT: 3.08 m/s, 2,844 kWh, payback over 100 years (42 mi)
- Wasatch County, UT: 3.18 m/s, 3,165 kWh, payback over 100 years (46 mi)
- Summit County, UT: 3.82 m/s, 5,707 kWh, payback over 100 years (52 mi)
Sun versus wind in Salt Lake County
Salt Lake County gets 4.8 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,402 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 398. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 3.5 times as much here as the turbine. 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.