Wind Turbine Payback in St. John the Baptist Parish, LA
Wind turbine payback in St. John the Baptist Parish
No. The turbine wears out before it pays for itself.
At 30 m, the height a home turbine tower usually reaches, the wind in St. John the Baptist Parish, LA averages 4.7 m/s (10.5 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 10,571 kWh a year, worth $1,403 at LA's 13.27¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 71 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in St. John the Baptist Parish
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in St. John the Baptist Parish unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.6 m/s at the hub against 4.7 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,361 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,057, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 47¢/kWh, 3.6 times what LA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.6 m/s instead of 4.7. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of LA
St. John the Baptist Parish is the 1,610th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in LA is Iberia Parish at 5.86 m/s, payback 40 years.
Month by month in St. John the Baptist Parish
January is the strongest month here, at 5.48 m/s and about 1,350 kWh. July is the weakest, 3.46 m/s and 354 kWh, so the best month makes 3.8 times the worst. November to March brings in 57% of the year's output in St. John the Baptist Parish.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.48 m/s | 1,350 kWh | $179 |
| February | 5.52 m/s | 1,239 kWh | $164 |
| March | 5.38 m/s | 1,291 kWh | $171 |
| April | 5.36 m/s | 1,234 kWh | $164 |
| May | 4.59 m/s | 842 kWh | $112 |
| June | 3.82 m/s | 470 kWh | $62 |
| July | 3.46 m/s | 354 kWh | $47 |
| August | 3.49 m/s | 363 kWh | $48 |
| September | 4.13 m/s | 597 kWh | $79 |
| October | 4.71 m/s | 903 kWh | $120 |
| November | 5.09 m/s | 1,081 kWh | $143 |
| December | 5.39 m/s | 1,296 kWh | $172 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in St. John the Baptist Parish averages 3.63 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.3 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.235, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 8,027 to 14,608 kWh a year, 82% 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 | 4.27 m/s | 8,027 kWh | 94 years |
| 30 m | 4.7 m/s | 10,574 kWh | 71 years |
| 40 m | 5.03 m/s | 12,732 kWh | 59 years |
| 50 m | 5.3 m/s | 14,608 kWh | 52 years |
Counties around St. John the Baptist Parish
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Orleans Parish, averages 5.08 m/s.
- St. Charles Parish, LA: 4.7 m/s, 10,571 kWh, payback 71 years (18 mi)
- St. James Parish, LA: 4.7 m/s, 10,571 kWh, payback 71 years (20 mi)
- Livingston Parish, LA: 3.25 m/s, 3,402 kWh, payback over 100 years (25 mi)
- Ascension Parish, LA: 4.7 m/s, 10,571 kWh, payback 71 years (26 mi)
- Tangipahoa Parish, LA: 3.25 m/s, 3,402 kWh, payback over 100 years (33 mi)
- Orleans Parish, LA: 5.08 m/s, 13,078 kWh, payback 58 years (34 mi)
Sun versus wind in St. John the Baptist Parish
St. John the Baptist Parish gets 4.66 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,361 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,057. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.3 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.