Wind Turbine Payback in Shannon County, MO
Wind turbine payback in Shannon 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 Shannon County, MO averages 3.28 m/s (7.3 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 3,506 kWh a year, worth $501 at MO's 14.28¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of over 100 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Shannon County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Shannon County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.2 m/s at the hub against 3.28 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,256 kWh a year here against the turbine's 351, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 143¢/kWh, 10.0 times what MO pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.2 m/s instead of 3.28. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of MO
Shannon County is the 2,773rd windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in MO is Atchison County at 6.17 m/s, payback 33 years.
Month by month in Shannon County
March is the strongest month here, at 3.87 m/s and about 503 kWh. July is the weakest, 2.48 m/s and 110 kWh, so the best month makes 4.6 times the worst. November to March brings in 57% of the year's output in Shannon County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.76 m/s | 460 kWh | $66 |
| February | 3.83 m/s | 443 kWh | $63 |
| March | 3.87 m/s | 503 kWh | $72 |
| April | 3.85 m/s | 481 kWh | $69 |
| May | 3.25 m/s | 287 kWh | $41 |
| June | 2.78 m/s | 164 kWh | $23 |
| July | 2.48 m/s | 110 kWh | $16 |
| August | 2.51 m/s | 116 kWh | $17 |
| September | 2.81 m/s | 169 kWh | $24 |
| October | 3.27 m/s | 294 kWh | $42 |
| November | 3.48 m/s | 350 kWh | $50 |
| December | 3.52 m/s | 374 kWh | $53 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Shannon County averages 1.95 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.17 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.472, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 1,811 to 7,461 kWh a year, 312% 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 | 2.71 m/s | 1,811 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.28 m/s | 3,494 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 3.75 m/s | 5,401 kWh | over 100 years |
| 50 m | 4.17 m/s | 7,461 kWh | 94 years |
Counties around Shannon County
5 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Howell County, averages 3.73 m/s.
- Reynolds County, MO: 3.39 m/s, 3,905 kWh, payback over 100 years (27 mi)
- Carter County, MO: 3.28 m/s, 3,506 kWh, payback over 100 years (28 mi)
- Dent County, MO: 3.39 m/s, 3,905 kWh, payback over 100 years (32 mi)
- Oregon County, MO: 3.38 m/s, 3,868 kWh, payback over 100 years (32 mi)
- Texas County, MO: 3.5 m/s, 4,329 kWh, payback over 100 years (33 mi)
- Howell County, MO: 3.73 m/s, 5,297 kWh, payback over 100 years (38 mi)
Sun versus wind in Shannon County
Shannon County gets 4.3 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,256 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 351. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 3.6 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.