Wind Turbine Payback in Sweetwater County, WY
Wind turbine payback in Sweetwater 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 Sweetwater County, WY averages 6.42 m/s (14.4 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 22,817 kWh a year, worth $3,197 at WY's 14.01¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 31 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Sweetwater County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Sweetwater County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.3 m/s at the hub against 6.42 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,381 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,282, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 22¢/kWh, 1.6 times what WY pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.3 m/s instead of 6.42. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of WY
Sweetwater County is the 301st windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in WY is Albany County at 7.32 m/s, payback 24 years.
Month by month in Sweetwater County
January is the strongest month here, at 7.27 m/s and about 2,462 kWh. July is the weakest, 5.02 m/s and 1,076 kWh, so the best month makes 2.3 times the worst. November to March brings in 51% of the year's output in Sweetwater County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.27 m/s | 2,462 kWh | $345 |
| February | 7.32 m/s | 2,248 kWh | $315 |
| March | 7.11 m/s | 2,364 kWh | $331 |
| April | 6.85 m/s | 2,133 kWh | $299 |
| May | 5.96 m/s | 1,646 kWh | $231 |
| June | 6.00 m/s | 1,621 kWh | $227 |
| July | 5.02 m/s | 1,076 kWh | $151 |
| August | 5.07 m/s | 1,102 kWh | $154 |
| September | 5.78 m/s | 1,488 kWh | $208 |
| October | 6.58 m/s | 2,040 kWh | $286 |
| November | 6.97 m/s | 2,208 kWh | $309 |
| December | 7.21 m/s | 2,424 kWh | $340 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Sweetwater County averages 5.23 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.06 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.186, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 19,361 to 27,471 kWh a year, 42% 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 | 5.95 m/s | 19,361 kWh | 37 years |
| 30 m | 6.42 m/s | 22,817 kWh | 31 years |
| 40 m | 6.77 m/s | 25,406 kWh | 28 years |
| 50 m | 7.06 m/s | 27,471 kWh | 26 years |
Counties around Sweetwater County
None of the 6 closest counties is windier than Sweetwater County.
- Daggett County, UT: 5.32 m/s, 14,750 kWh, payback 51 years (62 mi)
- Moffat County, CO: 5.05 m/s, 12,873 kWh, payback 46 years (80 mi)
- Uinta County, WY: 5.84 m/s, 18,521 kWh, payback 39 years (91 mi)
- Sublette County, WY: 3.96 m/s, 6,378 kWh, payback over 100 years (93 mi)
- Fremont County, WY: 5.48 m/s, 15,893 kWh, payback 45 years (97 mi)
- Carbon County, WY: 6.1 m/s, 20,446 kWh, payback 35 years (100 mi)
Sun versus wind in Sweetwater County
Sweetwater County gets 4.73 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,381 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,282. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.7 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.