Wind Turbine Payback in Taos County, NM
Wind turbine payback in Taos 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 Taos County, NM averages 4.23 m/s (9.5 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 7,787 kWh a year, worth $1,195 at NM's 15.34¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 84 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Taos County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Taos County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.8 m/s at the hub against 4.23 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,545 kWh a year here against the turbine's 779, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 64¢/kWh, 4.2 times what NM pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.8 m/s instead of 4.23. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of NM
Taos County is the 1,926th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in NM is Union County at 6.75 m/s, payback 26 years.
Month by month in Taos County
April is the strongest month here, at 5.36 m/s and about 1,234 kWh. July is the weakest, 3.13 m/s and 254 kWh, so the best month makes 4.9 times the worst. November to March brings in 44% of the year's output in Taos County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.99 m/s | 555 kWh | $85 |
| February | 4.70 m/s | 813 kWh | $125 |
| March | 4.94 m/s | 1,032 kWh | $158 |
| April | 5.36 m/s | 1,234 kWh | $189 |
| May | 4.78 m/s | 939 kWh | $144 |
| June | 4.36 m/s | 701 kWh | $108 |
| July | 3.13 m/s | 254 kWh | $39 |
| August | 3.22 m/s | 279 kWh | $43 |
| September | 3.82 m/s | 470 kWh | $72 |
| October | 4.24 m/s | 665 kWh | $102 |
| November | 4.20 m/s | 628 kWh | $96 |
| December | 4.08 m/s | 593 kWh | $91 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Taos County averages 3.22 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.8 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.248, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 5,727 to 11,212 kWh a year, 96% 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 | 3.82 m/s | 5,727 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 4.23 m/s | 7,781 kWh | 84 years |
| 40 m | 4.54 m/s | 9,590 kWh | 68 years |
| 50 m | 4.8 m/s | 11,212 kWh | 58 years |
Counties around Taos County
5 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Colfax County, averages 5.94 m/s.
- Costilla County, CO: 4.5 m/s, 9,339 kWh, payback 64 years (50 mi)
- Conejos County, CO: 4.38 m/s, 8,632 kWh, payback 69 years (53 mi)
- Colfax County, NM: 5.94 m/s, 19,260 kWh, payback 34 years (55 mi)
- Mora County, NM: 5.15 m/s, 13,560 kWh, payback 48 years (57 mi)
- Rio Arriba County, NM: 4.04 m/s, 6,780 kWh, payback 96 years (59 mi)
- Los Alamos County, NM: 4.28 m/s, 8,064 kWh, payback 81 years (61 mi)
Sun versus wind in Taos County
Taos County gets 5.29 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,545 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 779. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 2.0 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.