Wind Turbine Payback in Ste. Genevieve County, MO
Wind turbine payback in Ste. Genevieve 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 Ste. Genevieve County, MO averages 4.69 m/s (10.5 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 10,508 kWh a year, worth $1,501 at MO's 14.28¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 67 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Ste. Genevieve County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Ste. Genevieve County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.2 m/s at the hub against 4.69 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,241 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,051, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 48¢/kWh, 3.3 times what MO pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.2 m/s instead of 4.69. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of MO
Ste. Genevieve County is the 1,626th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in MO is Atchison County at 6.17 m/s, payback 33 years.
Month by month in Ste. Genevieve County
March is the strongest month here, at 5.43 m/s and about 1,321 kWh. July is the weakest, 3.55 m/s and 386 kWh, so the best month makes 3.4 times the worst. November to March brings in 55% of the year's output in Ste. Genevieve County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.35 m/s | 1,269 kWh | $181 |
| February | 5.37 m/s | 1,161 kWh | $166 |
| March | 5.43 m/s | 1,321 kWh | $189 |
| April | 5.50 m/s | 1,319 kWh | $188 |
| May | 4.64 m/s | 868 kWh | $124 |
| June | 3.99 m/s | 537 kWh | $77 |
| July | 3.55 m/s | 386 kWh | $55 |
| August | 3.58 m/s | 395 kWh | $56 |
| September | 3.96 m/s | 523 kWh | $75 |
| October | 4.76 m/s | 932 kWh | $133 |
| November | 5.15 m/s | 1,115 kWh | $159 |
| December | 5.12 m/s | 1,137 kWh | $162 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Ste. Genevieve County averages 3.38 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.47 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.299, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 7,403 to 15,821 kWh a year, 114% 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 | 4.16 m/s | 7,403 kWh | 95 years |
| 30 m | 4.7 m/s | 10,541 kWh | 66 years |
| 40 m | 5.12 m/s | 13,332 kWh | 53 years |
| 50 m | 5.47 m/s | 15,821 kWh | 44 years |
Counties around Ste. Genevieve County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Monroe County, averages 5.05 m/s.
- St. Francois County, MO: 3.59 m/s, 4,694 kWh, payback over 100 years (18 mi)
- Randolph County, IL: 4.69 m/s, 10,508 kWh, payback 50 years (22 mi)
- Perry County, MO: 4.46 m/s, 9,100 kWh, payback 77 years (23 mi)
- Monroe County, IL: 5.05 m/s, 12,873 kWh, payback 40 years (27 mi)
- Madison County, MO: 3.41 m/s, 3,980 kWh, payback over 100 years (30 mi)
- Jefferson County, MO: 4.11 m/s, 7,143 kWh, payback 98 years (33 mi)
Sun versus wind in Ste. Genevieve County
Ste. Genevieve County gets 4.25 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,241 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,051. 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.