Wind Turbine Payback in Seminole County, OK
Wind turbine payback in Seminole 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 Seminole County, OK averages 6.21 m/s (13.9 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 21,262 kWh a year, worth $2,936 at OK's 13.81¢/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 Seminole County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Seminole County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.4 m/s at the hub against 6.21 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,334 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,126, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 24¢/kWh, 1.7 times what OK pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.4 m/s instead of 6.21. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of OK
Seminole County is the 576th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in OK is Cimarron County at 6.82 m/s, payback 28 years.
Month by month in Seminole County
April is the strongest month here, at 7.23 m/s and about 2,354 kWh. August is the weakest, 5.00 m/s and 1,067 kWh, so the best month makes 2.2 times the worst. November to March brings in 48% of the year's output in Seminole County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.51 m/s | 1,997 kWh | $276 |
| February | 6.63 m/s | 1,869 kWh | $258 |
| March | 6.98 m/s | 2,282 kWh | $315 |
| April | 7.23 m/s | 2,354 kWh | $325 |
| May | 6.41 m/s | 1,930 kWh | $267 |
| June | 5.90 m/s | 1,559 kWh | $215 |
| July | 5.10 m/s | 1,123 kWh | $155 |
| August | 5.00 m/s | 1,067 kWh | $147 |
| September | 5.34 m/s | 1,225 kWh | $169 |
| October | 6.28 m/s | 1,852 kWh | $256 |
| November | 6.74 m/s | 2,066 kWh | $285 |
| December | 6.43 m/s | 1,947 kWh | $269 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Seminole County averages 4.82 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.99 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.231, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 17,174 to 26,971 kWh a year, 57% 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 | 5.66 m/s | 17,174 kWh | 42 years |
| 30 m | 6.21 m/s | 21,276 kWh | 34 years |
| 40 m | 6.64 m/s | 24,427 kWh | 30 years |
| 50 m | 6.99 m/s | 26,971 kWh | 27 years |
Counties around Seminole County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Cleveland County, averages 6.27 m/s.
- Pottawatomie County, OK: 6.21 m/s, 21,262 kWh, payback 34 years (20 mi)
- Hughes County, OK: 6 m/s, 19,704 kWh, payback 37 years (21 mi)
- Okfuskee County, OK: 6.11 m/s, 20,520 kWh, payback 35 years (26 mi)
- Pontotoc County, OK: 6.07 m/s, 20,223 kWh, payback 36 years (31 mi)
- Lincoln County, OK: 6.24 m/s, 21,484 kWh, payback 34 years (41 mi)
- Cleveland County, OK: 6.27 m/s, 21,706 kWh, payback 33 years (41 mi)
Sun versus wind in Seminole County
Seminole County gets 4.57 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,334 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,126. 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.