Wind Turbine Payback in St. Tammany Parish, LA
Wind turbine payback in St. Tammany 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. Tammany Parish, LA averages 3.07 m/s (6.9 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 2,813 kWh a year, worth $373 at LA's 13.27¢/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 St. Tammany Parish
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in St. Tammany Parish unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.6 m/s at the hub against 3.07 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,384 kWh a year here against the turbine's 281, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 178¢/kWh, 13.4 times what LA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.6 m/s instead of 3.07. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of LA
St. Tammany Parish is the 3,012th 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. Tammany Parish
March is the strongest month here, at 3.48 m/s and about 360 kWh. July is the weakest, 2.44 m/s and 104 kWh, so the best month makes 3.5 times the worst. November to March brings in 55% of the year's output in St. Tammany Parish.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.38 m/s | 327 kWh | $43 |
| February | 3.45 m/s | 316 kWh | $42 |
| March | 3.48 m/s | 360 kWh | $48 |
| April | 3.45 m/s | 341 kWh | $45 |
| May | 3.04 m/s | 230 kWh | $31 |
| June | 2.63 m/s | 133 kWh | $18 |
| July | 2.44 m/s | 104 kWh | $14 |
| August | 2.48 m/s | 112 kWh | $15 |
| September | 2.82 m/s | 171 kWh | $23 |
| October | 3.10 m/s | 247 kWh | $33 |
| November | 3.26 m/s | 284 kWh | $38 |
| December | 3.34 m/s | 317 kWh | $42 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in St. Tammany Parish averages 1.84 m/s; at 50 m it is 3.89 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.465, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 1,435 to 6,037 kWh a year, 321% 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 | 2.54 m/s | 1,435 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.07 m/s | 2,805 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 3.51 m/s | 4,355 kWh | over 100 years |
| 50 m | 3.89 m/s | 6,037 kWh | over 100 years |
Counties around St. Tammany Parish
4 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Orleans Parish, averages 5.08 m/s.
- Orleans Parish, LA: 5.08 m/s, 13,078 kWh, payback 58 years (25 mi)
- Hancock County, MS: 3.35 m/s, 3,757 kWh, payback over 100 years (28 mi)
- Tangipahoa Parish, LA: 3.25 m/s, 3,402 kWh, payback over 100 years (31 mi)
- Washington Parish, LA: 2.9 m/s, 2,315 kWh, payback over 100 years (31 mi)
- Pearl River County, MS: 2.93 m/s, 2,398 kWh, payback over 100 years (33 mi)
- St. John the Baptist Parish, LA: 4.7 m/s, 10,571 kWh, payback 71 years (37 mi)
Sun versus wind in St. Tammany Parish
St. Tammany Parish gets 4.74 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,384 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 281. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 4.9 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.