Wind Turbine Payback in Teller County, CO
Wind turbine payback in Teller 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 Teller County, CO averages 5.09 m/s (11.4 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 13,146 kWh a year, worth $2,209 at CO's 16.8¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 45 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Teller County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Teller County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.4 m/s at the hub against 5.09 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,460 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,315, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 38¢/kWh, 2.3 times what CO pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.4 m/s instead of 5.09. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of CO
Teller County is the 1,408th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in CO is Baca County at 6.65 m/s, payback 24 years.
Month by month in Teller County
April is the strongest month here, at 5.82 m/s and about 1,509 kWh. August is the weakest, 4.00 m/s and 560 kWh, so the best month makes 2.7 times the worst. November to March brings in 52% of the year's output in Teller County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.67 m/s | 1,465 kWh | $246 |
| February | 5.84 m/s | 1,418 kWh | $238 |
| March | 5.66 m/s | 1,459 kWh | $245 |
| April | 5.82 m/s | 1,509 kWh | $254 |
| May | 4.91 m/s | 1,011 kWh | $170 |
| June | 4.70 m/s | 869 kWh | $146 |
| July | 4.05 m/s | 580 kWh | $97 |
| August | 4.00 m/s | 560 kWh | $94 |
| September | 4.54 m/s | 787 kWh | $132 |
| October | 5.01 m/s | 1,072 kWh | $180 |
| November | 5.39 m/s | 1,253 kWh | $211 |
| December | 5.64 m/s | 1,448 kWh | $243 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Teller County averages 4 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.7 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.220, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 10,316 to 17,492 kWh a year, 70% 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 | 4.66 m/s | 10,316 kWh | 58 years |
| 30 m | 5.09 m/s | 13,175 kWh | 45 years |
| 40 m | 5.43 m/s | 15,512 kWh | 38 years |
| 50 m | 5.7 m/s | 17,492 kWh | 34 years |
Counties around Teller County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, El Paso County, averages 5.4 m/s.
- Fremont County, CO: 4.87 m/s, 11,668 kWh, payback 51 years (31 mi)
- Park County, CO: 5.21 m/s, 13,976 kWh, payback 43 years (33 mi)
- Douglas County, CO: 4.97 m/s, 12,333 kWh, payback 48 years (34 mi)
- El Paso County, CO: 5.4 m/s, 15,319 kWh, payback 39 years (36 mi)
- Jefferson County, CO: 4.97 m/s, 12,333 kWh, payback 48 years (49 mi)
- Custer County, CO: 4.56 m/s, 9,702 kWh, payback 61 years (54 mi)
Sun versus wind in Teller County
Teller County gets 5 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,460 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,315. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.1 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.