Wind Turbine Payback in San Saba County, TX
Wind turbine payback in San Saba 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 Saba County, TX averages 5.82 m/s (13 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 18,374 kWh a year, worth $2,945 at TX's 16.03¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 34 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in San Saba County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in San Saba County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.6 m/s at the hub against 5.82 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,451 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,837, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 27¢/kWh, 1.7 times what TX pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.6 m/s instead of 5.82. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of TX
San Saba County is the 1,048th 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 San Saba County
April is the strongest month here, at 6.67 m/s and about 2,026 kWh. September is the weakest, 4.85 m/s and 951 kWh, so the best month makes 2.1 times the worst. November to March brings in 47% of the year's output in San Saba County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.02 m/s | 1,686 kWh | $270 |
| February | 6.24 m/s | 1,649 kWh | $264 |
| March | 6.46 m/s | 1,960 kWh | $314 |
| April | 6.67 m/s | 2,026 kWh | $325 |
| May | 6.15 m/s | 1,770 kWh | $284 |
| June | 5.67 m/s | 1,421 kWh | $228 |
| July | 5.18 m/s | 1,172 kWh | $188 |
| August | 4.91 m/s | 1,012 kWh | $162 |
| September | 4.85 m/s | 951 kWh | $152 |
| October | 5.65 m/s | 1,458 kWh | $234 |
| November | 6.00 m/s | 1,621 kWh | $260 |
| December | 6.00 m/s | 1,675 kWh | $269 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in San Saba County averages 4.52 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.54 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.230, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 14,589 to 23,702 kWh a year, 62% 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 | 5.3 m/s | 14,589 kWh | 43 years |
| 30 m | 5.82 m/s | 18,337 kWh | 34 years |
| 40 m | 6.21 m/s | 21,282 kWh | 29 years |
| 50 m | 6.54 m/s | 23,702 kWh | 26 years |
Counties around San Saba County
5 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Mason County, averages 6.08 m/s.
- Mills County, TX: 5.87 m/s, 18,742 kWh, payback 33 years (27 mi)
- Llano County, TX: 5.89 m/s, 18,890 kWh, payback 33 years (32 mi)
- McCulloch County, TX: 5.98 m/s, 19,556 kWh, payback 32 years (32 mi)
- Lampasas County, TX: 5.75 m/s, 17,859 kWh, payback 35 years (34 mi)
- Mason County, TX: 6.08 m/s, 20,297 kWh, payback 31 years (40 mi)
- Brown County, TX: 6.05 m/s, 20,075 kWh, payback 31 years (43 mi)
Sun versus wind in San Saba County
San Saba County gets 4.97 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,451 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,837. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.3 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.