Wind Turbine Payback in Stearns County, MN
Wind turbine payback in Stearns 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 Stearns County, MN averages 6.29 m/s (14.1 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 21,855 kWh a year, worth $3,593 at MN's 16.44¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 28 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Stearns County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Stearns County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.5 m/s at the hub against 6.29 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,133 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,186, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 23¢/kWh, 1.4 times what MN pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.5 m/s instead of 6.29. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of MN
Stearns County is the 482nd windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in MN is Lincoln County at 6.68 m/s, payback 25 years.
Month by month in Stearns County
April is the strongest month here, at 6.89 m/s and about 2,156 kWh. July is the weakest, 5.28 m/s and 1,231 kWh, so the best month makes 1.8 times the worst. November to March brings in 45% of the year's output in Stearns County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.59 m/s | 2,045 kWh | $336 |
| February | 6.64 m/s | 1,877 kWh | $309 |
| March | 6.56 m/s | 2,023 kWh | $333 |
| April | 6.89 m/s | 2,156 kWh | $354 |
| May | 6.47 m/s | 1,972 kWh | $324 |
| June | 5.89 m/s | 1,554 kWh | $255 |
| July | 5.28 m/s | 1,231 kWh | $202 |
| August | 5.37 m/s | 1,285 kWh | $211 |
| September | 6.31 m/s | 1,811 kWh | $298 |
| October | 6.65 m/s | 2,084 kWh | $343 |
| November | 6.49 m/s | 1,919 kWh | $315 |
| December | 6.31 m/s | 1,871 kWh | $308 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Stearns County averages 4.96 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.02 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.216, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 17,928 to 27,186 kWh a year, 52% 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 | 5.76 m/s | 17,928 kWh | 34 years |
| 30 m | 6.29 m/s | 21,830 kWh | 28 years |
| 40 m | 6.69 m/s | 24,799 kWh | 25 years |
| 50 m | 7.02 m/s | 27,186 kWh | 22 years |
Counties around Stearns County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Todd County, averages 6.45 m/s.
- Meeker County, MN: 6.25 m/s, 21,558 kWh, payback 28 years (30 mi)
- Benton County, MN: 6.13 m/s, 20,668 kWh, payback 29 years (31 mi)
- Kandiyohi County, MN: 6.27 m/s, 21,706 kWh, payback 28 years (34 mi)
- Morrison County, MN: 6.34 m/s, 22,225 kWh, payback 27 years (36 mi)
- Todd County, MN: 6.45 m/s, 23,038 kWh, payback 26 years (38 mi)
- Pope County, MN: 6.39 m/s, 22,595 kWh, payback 27 years (41 mi)
Sun versus wind in Stearns County
Stearns County gets 3.88 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,133 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,186. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.9 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.