Wind Turbine Payback in Union Parish, LA
Wind turbine payback in Union Parish
No. The turbine wears out before it pays for itself.
At 30 m, the height a home turbine tower usually reaches, the wind in Union Parish, LA averages 3.05 m/s (6.8 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 2,751 kWh a year, worth $365 at LA's 13.27¢/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 Union Parish
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Union Parish unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.6 m/s at the hub against 3.05 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,332 kWh a year here against the turbine's 275, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 182¢/kWh, 13.7 times what LA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.6 m/s instead of 3.05. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of LA
Union Parish is the 3,024th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in LA is Iberia Parish at 5.86 m/s, payback 40 years.
Month by month in Union Parish
April is the strongest month here, at 3.51 m/s and about 360 kWh. July is the weakest, 2.49 m/s and 114 kWh, so the best month makes 3.2 times the worst. November to March brings in 51% of the year's output in Union Parish.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.22 m/s | 281 kWh | $37 |
| February | 3.31 m/s | 277 kWh | $37 |
| March | 3.44 m/s | 348 kWh | $46 |
| April | 3.51 m/s | 360 kWh | $48 |
| May | 3.09 m/s | 245 kWh | $33 |
| June | 2.73 m/s | 155 kWh | $21 |
| July | 2.49 m/s | 114 kWh | $15 |
| August | 2.53 m/s | 121 kWh | $16 |
| September | 2.80 m/s | 169 kWh | $22 |
| October | 3.03 m/s | 229 kWh | $30 |
| November | 3.23 m/s | 275 kWh | $36 |
| December | 3.19 m/s | 270 kWh | $36 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Union Parish averages 1.77 m/s; at 50 m it is 3.92 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.494, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 1,336 to 6,182 kWh a year, 363% 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 | 2.49 m/s | 1,336 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.05 m/s | 2,738 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 3.51 m/s | 4,372 kWh | over 100 years |
| 50 m | 3.92 m/s | 6,182 kWh | over 100 years |
Counties around Union Parish
5 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Ouachita Parish, averages 4.65 m/s.
- Lincoln Parish, LA: 3.26 m/s, 3,436 kWh, payback over 100 years (23 mi)
- Union County, AR: 3.05 m/s, 2,751 kWh, payback over 100 years (27 mi)
- Ouachita Parish, LA: 4.65 m/s, 10,257 kWh, payback 74 years (27 mi)
- Morehouse Parish, LA: 3.7 m/s, 5,164 kWh, payback over 100 years (33 mi)
- Claiborne Parish, LA: 3.19 m/s, 3,198 kWh, payback over 100 years (36 mi)
- Jackson Parish, LA: 3.26 m/s, 3,436 kWh, payback over 100 years (38 mi)
Sun versus wind in Union Parish
Union Parish gets 4.56 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,332 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 275. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 4.8 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.