Wind Turbine Payback in Santa Barbara County, CA
Wind turbine payback in Santa Barbara 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 Santa Barbara County, CA averages 4.51 m/s (10.1 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 9,399 kWh a year, worth $3,062 at CA's 32.58¢/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 Santa Barbara County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Santa Barbara County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 5.4 m/s at the hub against 4.51 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,486 kWh a year here against the turbine's 940, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 53¢/kWh, 1.6 times what CA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 5.4 m/s instead of 4.51. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of CA
Santa Barbara County is the 1,741st windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in CA is San Francisco County at 6.53 m/s, payback 13 years.
Month by month in Santa Barbara County
April is the strongest month here, at 5.18 m/s and about 1,129 kWh. July is the weakest, 3.80 m/s and 475 kWh, so the best month makes 2.4 times the worst. November to March brings in 45% of the year's output in Santa Barbara County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.58 m/s | 836 kWh | $272 |
| February | 4.80 m/s | 858 kWh | $280 |
| March | 4.93 m/s | 1,027 kWh | $335 |
| April | 5.18 m/s | 1,129 kWh | $368 |
| May | 4.95 m/s | 1,038 kWh | $338 |
| June | 4.52 m/s | 776 kWh | $253 |
| July | 3.80 m/s | 475 kWh | $155 |
| August | 3.89 m/s | 512 kWh | $167 |
| September | 4.10 m/s | 583 kWh | $190 |
| October | 4.30 m/s | 697 kWh | $227 |
| November | 4.43 m/s | 736 kWh | $240 |
| December | 4.60 m/s | 845 kWh | $275 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Santa Barbara County averages 3.82 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.87 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.151, typical of very open, smooth ground where height adds little. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 7,846 to 11,668 kWh a year, 49% 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 | 4.24 m/s | 7,846 kWh | 39 years |
| 30 m | 4.51 m/s | 9,390 kWh | 33 years |
| 40 m | 4.71 m/s | 10,626 kWh | 29 years |
| 50 m | 4.87 m/s | 11,668 kWh | 26 years |
Counties around Santa Barbara County
None of the 6 closest counties is windier than Santa Barbara County.
- Ventura County, CA: 3.36 m/s, 3,794 kWh, payback 81 years (53 mi)
- San Luis Obispo County, CA: 4.12 m/s, 7,195 kWh, payback 43 years (63 mi)
- Kern County, CA: 3.43 m/s, 4,056 kWh, payback 76 years (93 mi)
- Los Angeles County, CA: 3.34 m/s, 3,720 kWh, payback 83 years (104 mi)
- Kings County, CA: 4.07 m/s, 6,934 kWh, payback 44 years (107 mi)
- Tulare County, CA: 3.06 m/s, 2,782 kWh, payback over 100 years (137 mi)
Sun versus wind in Santa Barbara County
Santa Barbara County gets 5.09 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,486 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 940. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.6 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.