Wind Turbine Payback in Sedgwick County, CO
Wind turbine payback in Sedgwick 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 Sedgwick County, CO averages 6.2 m/s (13.9 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 21,187 kWh a year, worth $3,559 at CO's 16.8¢/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 Sedgwick County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Sedgwick County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.4 m/s at the hub against 6.2 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,384 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,119, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 24¢/kWh, 1.4 times what CO pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.4 m/s instead of 6.2. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of CO
Sedgwick County is the 588th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in CO is Baca County at 6.65 m/s, payback 24 years.
Month by month in Sedgwick County
April is the strongest month here, at 6.83 m/s and about 2,122 kWh. July is the weakest, 5.34 m/s and 1,264 kWh, so the best month makes 1.7 times the worst. November to March brings in 47% of the year's output in Sedgwick County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.66 m/s | 2,088 kWh | $351 |
| February | 6.56 m/s | 1,831 kWh | $308 |
| March | 6.67 m/s | 2,093 kWh | $352 |
| April | 6.83 m/s | 2,122 kWh | $356 |
| May | 6.13 m/s | 1,758 kWh | $295 |
| June | 5.71 m/s | 1,446 kWh | $243 |
| July | 5.34 m/s | 1,264 kWh | $212 |
| August | 5.35 m/s | 1,269 kWh | $213 |
| September | 5.80 m/s | 1,500 kWh | $252 |
| October | 6.38 m/s | 1,915 kWh | $322 |
| November | 6.49 m/s | 1,918 kWh | $322 |
| December | 6.55 m/s | 2,021 kWh | $340 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Sedgwick County averages 4.86 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.95 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.222, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 17,278 to 26,685 kWh a year, 54% 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 | 5.67 m/s | 17,278 kWh | 35 years |
| 30 m | 6.2 m/s | 21,224 kWh | 28 years |
| 40 m | 6.61 m/s | 24,246 kWh | 25 years |
| 50 m | 6.95 m/s | 26,685 kWh | 22 years |
Counties around Sedgwick County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Perkins County, averages 6.3 m/s.
- Deuel County, NE: 6.2 m/s, 21,187 kWh, payback 37 years (17 mi)
- Phillips County, CO: 6.16 m/s, 20,891 kWh, payback 29 years (19 mi)
- Perkins County, NE: 6.3 m/s, 21,929 kWh, payback 35 years (38 mi)
- Logan County, CO: 5.89 m/s, 18,890 kWh, payback 32 years (40 mi)
- Cheyenne County, NE: 6.17 m/s, 20,965 kWh, payback 37 years (42 mi)
- Chase County, NE: 6.23 m/s, 21,410 kWh, payback 36 years (42 mi)
Sun versus wind in Sedgwick County
Sedgwick County gets 4.74 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,384 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,119. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.5 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.