Wind Turbine Payback in Taylor County, FL
Wind turbine payback in Taylor 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 Taylor County, FL averages 3.79 m/s (8.5 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 5,568 kWh a year, worth $853 at FL's 15.32¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of over 100 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Taylor County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Taylor County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.8 m/s at the hub against 3.79 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,466 kWh a year here against the turbine's 557, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 90¢/kWh, 5.9 times what FL pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.8 m/s instead of 3.79. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of FL
Taylor County is the 2,212th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in FL is Brevard County at 5.62 m/s, payback 39 years.
Month by month in Taylor County
January is the strongest month here, at 4.24 m/s and about 668 kWh. July is the weakest, 3.15 m/s and 260 kWh, so the best month makes 2.6 times the worst. November to March brings in 54% of the year's output in Taylor County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.24 m/s | 668 kWh | $102 |
| February | 4.16 m/s | 567 kWh | $87 |
| March | 4.18 m/s | 639 kWh | $98 |
| April | 3.97 m/s | 529 kWh | $81 |
| May | 3.60 m/s | 402 kWh | $62 |
| June | 3.29 m/s | 291 kWh | $45 |
| July | 3.15 m/s | 260 kWh | $40 |
| August | 3.19 m/s | 273 kWh | $42 |
| September | 3.64 m/s | 402 kWh | $62 |
| October | 3.87 m/s | 506 kWh | $78 |
| November | 4.10 m/s | 584 kWh | $89 |
| December | 4.16 m/s | 631 kWh | $97 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Taylor County averages 2.9 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.3 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.245, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 4,077 to 8,176 kWh a year, 101% 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 | 3.44 m/s | 4,077 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.79 m/s | 5,587 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 4.07 m/s | 6,941 kWh | 94 years |
| 50 m | 4.3 m/s | 8,176 kWh | 80 years |
Counties around Taylor County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Dixie County, averages 4.05 m/s.
- Lafayette County, FL: 3.62 m/s, 4,820 kWh, payback over 100 years (28 mi)
- Jefferson County, FL: 3.46 m/s, 4,172 kWh, payback over 100 years (34 mi)
- Madison County, FL: 3.46 m/s, 4,172 kWh, payback over 100 years (35 mi)
- Dixie County, FL: 4.05 m/s, 6,831 kWh, payback 96 years (37 mi)
- Suwannee County, FL: 3.62 m/s, 4,820 kWh, payback over 100 years (42 mi)
- Wakulla County, FL: 3.88 m/s, 5,989 kWh, payback over 100 years (44 mi)
Sun versus wind in Taylor County
Taylor County gets 5.02 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,466 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 557. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 2.6 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.