Wind Turbine Payback in Stafford County, KS
Wind turbine payback in Stafford 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 Stafford County, KS averages 6.66 m/s (14.9 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 24,582 kWh a year, worth $3,751 at KS's 15.26¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 27 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Stafford County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Stafford County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.8 m/s at the hub against 6.66 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,361 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,458, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 20¢/kWh, 1.3 times what KS pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.8 m/s instead of 6.66. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of KS
Stafford County is the 84th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in KS is Edwards County at 6.68 m/s, payback 27 years.
Month by month in Stafford County
April is the strongest month here, at 7.51 m/s and about 2,514 kWh. August is the weakest, 5.85 m/s and 1,582 kWh, so the best month makes 1.6 times the worst. November to March brings in 42% of the year's output in Stafford County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.43 m/s | 1,947 kWh | $297 |
| February | 6.53 m/s | 1,814 kWh | $277 |
| March | 7.03 m/s | 2,317 kWh | $354 |
| April | 7.51 m/s | 2,514 kWh | $384 |
| May | 6.77 m/s | 2,153 kWh | $329 |
| June | 6.87 m/s | 2,147 kWh | $328 |
| July | 6.00 m/s | 1,671 kWh | $255 |
| August | 5.85 m/s | 1,582 kWh | $241 |
| September | 6.70 m/s | 2,046 kWh | $312 |
| October | 6.87 m/s | 2,219 kWh | $339 |
| November | 6.82 m/s | 2,116 kWh | $323 |
| December | 6.51 m/s | 1,992 kWh | $304 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Stafford County averages 5.23 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.45 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.220, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 20,371 to 30,195 kWh a year, 48% 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 | 6.09 m/s | 20,371 kWh | 32 years |
| 30 m | 6.66 m/s | 24,568 kWh | 27 years |
| 40 m | 7.09 m/s | 27,706 kWh | 24 years |
| 50 m | 7.45 m/s | 30,195 kWh | 22 years |
Counties around Stafford County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Pawnee County, averages 6.68 m/s.
- Pratt County, KS: 6.53 m/s, 23,628 kWh, payback 28 years (27 mi)
- Pawnee County, KS: 6.68 m/s, 24,728 kWh, payback 27 years (30 mi)
- Barton County, KS: 6.58 m/s, 23,996 kWh, payback 27 years (31 mi)
- Edwards County, KS: 6.68 m/s, 24,728 kWh, payback 27 years (34 mi)
- Rice County, KS: 6.54 m/s, 23,702 kWh, payback 28 years (35 mi)
- Reno County, KS: 6.59 m/s, 24,069 kWh, payback 27 years (35 mi)
Sun versus wind in Stafford County
Stafford County 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 2,458. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.8 times. 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.