Wind Turbine Payback in St. Landry Parish, LA
Wind turbine payback in St. Landry 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. Landry Parish, LA averages 4.77 m/s (10.7 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 11,018 kWh a year, worth $1,462 at LA's 13.27¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 68 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in St. Landry Parish
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in St. Landry Parish unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.6 m/s at the hub against 4.77 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,364 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,102, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 45¢/kWh, 3.4 times what LA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.6 m/s instead of 4.77. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of LA
St. Landry Parish is the 1,576th 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. Landry Parish
March is the strongest month here, at 5.52 m/s and about 1,375 kWh. July is the weakest, 3.49 m/s and 363 kWh, so the best month makes 3.8 times the worst. November to March brings in 57% of the year's output in St. Landry Parish.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.50 m/s | 1,364 kWh | $181 |
| February | 5.64 m/s | 1,309 kWh | $174 |
| March | 5.52 m/s | 1,375 kWh | $182 |
| April | 5.53 m/s | 1,336 kWh | $177 |
| May | 4.77 m/s | 937 kWh | $124 |
| June | 3.93 m/s | 512 kWh | $68 |
| July | 3.49 m/s | 363 kWh | $48 |
| August | 3.55 m/s | 384 kWh | $51 |
| September | 4.08 m/s | 573 kWh | $76 |
| October | 4.68 m/s | 886 kWh | $118 |
| November | 5.19 m/s | 1,137 kWh | $151 |
| December | 5.44 m/s | 1,327 kWh | $176 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in St. Landry Parish averages 3.53 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.49 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.274, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 8,014 to 15,965 kWh a year, 99% 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 | 8,014 kWh | 94 years |
| 30 m | 4.77 m/s | 11,037 kWh | 68 years |
| 40 m | 5.16 m/s | 13,659 kWh | 55 years |
| 50 m | 5.49 m/s | 15,965 kWh | 47 years |
Counties around St. Landry Parish
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Lafayette Parish, averages 5.19 m/s.
- Pointe Coupee Parish, LA: 4.77 m/s, 11,018 kWh, payback 68 years (24 mi)
- Evangeline Parish, LA: 4.4 m/s, 8,748 kWh, payback 86 years (26 mi)
- Lafayette Parish, LA: 5.19 m/s, 13,837 kWh, payback 55 years (26 mi)
- Acadia Parish, LA: 4.4 m/s, 8,748 kWh, payback 86 years (32 mi)
- Avoyelles Parish, LA: 4.23 m/s, 7,787 kWh, payback 97 years (35 mi)
- St. Martin Parish, LA: 5.19 m/s, 13,837 kWh, payback 55 years (39 mi)
Sun versus wind in St. Landry Parish
St. Landry Parish gets 4.67 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,364 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,102. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.2 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.