Wind Turbine Payback in Scott County, KS
Wind turbine payback in Scott 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 Scott County, KS averages 6.45 m/s (14.4 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 23,038 kWh a year, worth $3,516 at KS's 15.26¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 28 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Scott County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Scott County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.8 m/s at the hub against 6.45 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,419 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,304, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 22¢/kWh, 1.4 times what KS pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.8 m/s instead of 6.45. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of KS
Scott County is the 257th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in KS is Edwards County at 6.68 m/s, payback 27 years.
Month by month in Scott County
April is the strongest month here, at 7.20 m/s and about 2,337 kWh. August is the weakest, 5.80 m/s and 1,548 kWh, so the best month makes 1.5 times the worst. November to March brings in 41% of the year's output in Scott County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.14 m/s | 1,762 kWh | $269 |
| February | 6.32 m/s | 1,693 kWh | $258 |
| March | 6.72 m/s | 2,126 kWh | $324 |
| April | 7.20 m/s | 2,337 kWh | $357 |
| May | 6.58 m/s | 2,037 kWh | $311 |
| June | 6.64 m/s | 2,009 kWh | $307 |
| July | 5.92 m/s | 1,621 kWh | $247 |
| August | 5.80 m/s | 1,548 kWh | $236 |
| September | 6.66 m/s | 2,020 kWh | $308 |
| October | 6.61 m/s | 2,060 kWh | $314 |
| November | 6.55 m/s | 1,955 kWh | $298 |
| December | 6.20 m/s | 1,801 kWh | $275 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Scott County averages 5.08 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.2 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.217, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 18,977 to 28,461 kWh a year, 50% 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 | 5.9 m/s | 18,977 kWh | 35 years |
| 30 m | 6.44 m/s | 22,998 kWh | 29 years |
| 40 m | 6.86 m/s | 26,034 kWh | 25 years |
| 50 m | 7.2 m/s | 28,461 kWh | 23 years |
Counties around Scott County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Finney County, averages 6.56 m/s.
- Lane County, KS: 6.45 m/s, 23,038 kWh, payback 28 years (24 mi)
- Wichita County, KS: 6.37 m/s, 22,447 kWh, payback 29 years (24 mi)
- Finney County, KS: 6.56 m/s, 23,849 kWh, payback 28 years (31 mi)
- Logan County, KS: 6.36 m/s, 22,373 kWh, payback 29 years (33 mi)
- Gove County, KS: 6.42 m/s, 22,817 kWh, payback 29 years (38 mi)
- Kearny County, KS: 6.4 m/s, 22,669 kWh, payback 29 years (40 mi)
Sun versus wind in Scott County
Scott County gets 4.86 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,419 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,304. 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.