Wind Turbine Payback in San Miguel County, NM
Wind turbine payback in San Miguel 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 San Miguel County, NM averages 6 m/s (13.4 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 19,704 kWh a year, worth $3,023 at NM's 15.34¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 33 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in San Miguel County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in San Miguel County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.8 m/s at the hub against 6 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,597 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,970, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 25¢/kWh, 1.7 times what NM pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.8 m/s instead of 6. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of NM
San Miguel County is the 840th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in NM is Union County at 6.75 m/s, payback 26 years.
Month by month in San Miguel County
April is the strongest month here, at 6.98 m/s and about 2,212 kWh. July is the weakest, 4.45 m/s and 768 kWh, so the best month makes 2.9 times the worst. November to March brings in 50% of the year's output in San Miguel County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.48 m/s | 1,978 kWh | $303 |
| February | 6.74 m/s | 1,932 kWh | $296 |
| March | 6.81 m/s | 2,182 kWh | $335 |
| April | 6.98 m/s | 2,212 kWh | $339 |
| May | 6.29 m/s | 1,855 kWh | $285 |
| June | 5.66 m/s | 1,412 kWh | $217 |
| July | 4.45 m/s | 768 kWh | $118 |
| August | 4.57 m/s | 827 kWh | $127 |
| September | 5.21 m/s | 1,146 kWh | $176 |
| October | 5.95 m/s | 1,643 kWh | $252 |
| November | 6.44 m/s | 1,887 kWh | $289 |
| December | 6.60 m/s | 2,050 kWh | $314 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in San Miguel County averages 4.65 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.76 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.232, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 15,788 to 25,311 kWh a year, 60% 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 | 5.47 m/s | 15,788 kWh | 41 years |
| 30 m | 6 m/s | 19,738 kWh | 33 years |
| 40 m | 6.42 m/s | 22,809 kWh | 29 years |
| 50 m | 6.76 m/s | 25,311 kWh | 26 years |
Counties around San Miguel County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Guadalupe County, averages 6.34 m/s.
- Mora County, NM: 5.15 m/s, 13,560 kWh, payback 48 years (36 mi)
- Guadalupe County, NM: 6.34 m/s, 22,225 kWh, payback 29 years (42 mi)
- Harding County, NM: 6.25 m/s, 21,558 kWh, payback 30 years (60 mi)
- Santa Fe County, NM: 4.59 m/s, 9,885 kWh, payback 66 years (65 mi)
- Quay County, NM: 6.32 m/s, 22,077 kWh, payback 30 years (75 mi)
- Colfax County, NM: 5.94 m/s, 19,260 kWh, payback 34 years (79 mi)
Sun versus wind in San Miguel County
San Miguel County gets 5.47 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,597 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,970. 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.