Wind Turbine Payback in Shoshone County, ID
Wind turbine payback in Shoshone 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 Shoshone County, ID averages 2.97 m/s (6.6 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 2,513 kWh a year, worth $327 at ID's 13.02¢/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 Shoshone County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Shoshone County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.7 m/s at the hub against 2.97 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,092 kWh a year here against the turbine's 251, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 199¢/kWh, 15.3 times what ID pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.7 m/s instead of 2.97. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of ID
Shoshone County is the 3,068th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in ID is Owyhee County at 5.38 m/s, payback 51 years.
Month by month in Shoshone County
March is the strongest month here, at 3.22 m/s and about 279 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.67 m/s and 146 kWh, so the best month makes 1.9 times the worst. November to March brings in 50% of the year's output in Shoshone County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.19 m/s | 272 kWh | $35 |
| February | 3.06 m/s | 213 kWh | $28 |
| March | 3.22 m/s | 279 kWh | $36 |
| April | 3.07 m/s | 232 kWh | $30 |
| May | 2.81 m/s | 176 kWh | $23 |
| June | 2.79 m/s | 167 kWh | $22 |
| July | 2.68 m/s | 148 kWh | $19 |
| August | 2.67 m/s | 146 kWh | $19 |
| September | 2.83 m/s | 174 kWh | $23 |
| October | 3.04 m/s | 231 kWh | $30 |
| November | 3.15 m/s | 252 kWh | $33 |
| December | 3.11 m/s | 249 kWh | $32 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Shoshone County averages 1.97 m/s; at 50 m it is 3.59 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.373, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 1,457 to 4,694 kWh a year, 222% 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 | 2.55 m/s | 1,457 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 2.97 m/s | 2,505 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 3.3 m/s | 3,588 kWh | over 100 years |
| 50 m | 3.59 m/s | 4,694 kWh | over 100 years |
Counties around Shoshone County
4 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Kootenai County, averages 3.64 m/s.
- Benewah County, ID: 3.61 m/s, 4,778 kWh, payback over 100 years (36 mi)
- Mineral County, MT: 3 m/s, 2,601 kWh, payback over 100 years (40 mi)
- Sanders County, MT: 2.89 m/s, 2,287 kWh, payback over 100 years (43 mi)
- Kootenai County, ID: 3.64 m/s, 4,905 kWh, payback over 100 years (44 mi)
- Clearwater County, ID: 2.58 m/s, 1,521 kWh, payback over 100 years (48 mi)
- Latah County, ID: 3.61 m/s, 4,778 kWh, payback over 100 years (54 mi)
Sun versus wind in Shoshone County
Shoshone County gets 3.74 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,092 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 251. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 4.4 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.