Wind Turbine Payback in Van Zandt County, TX
Wind turbine payback in Van Zandt 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 Van Zandt County, TX averages 5.44 m/s (12.2 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 15,605 kWh a year, worth $2,502 at TX's 16.03¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 40 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Van Zandt County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Van Zandt County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.6 m/s at the hub against 5.44 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,358 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,561, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 32¢/kWh, 2.0 times what TX pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.6 m/s instead of 5.44. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of TX
Van Zandt County is the 1,249th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in TX is Dallam County at 6.82 m/s, payback 24 years.
Month by month in Van Zandt County
March is the strongest month here, at 6.24 m/s and about 1,826 kWh. August is the weakest, 4.28 m/s and 686 kWh, so the best month makes 2.7 times the worst. November to March brings in 52% of the year's output in Van Zandt County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.97 m/s | 1,653 kWh | $265 |
| February | 6.14 m/s | 1,589 kWh | $255 |
| March | 6.24 m/s | 1,826 kWh | $293 |
| April | 6.28 m/s | 1,788 kWh | $287 |
| May | 5.54 m/s | 1,384 kWh | $222 |
| June | 4.83 m/s | 937 kWh | $150 |
| July | 4.42 m/s | 754 kWh | $121 |
| August | 4.28 m/s | 686 kWh | $110 |
| September | 4.58 m/s | 808 kWh | $130 |
| October | 5.32 m/s | 1,255 kWh | $201 |
| November | 5.87 m/s | 1,541 kWh | $247 |
| December | 5.85 m/s | 1,581 kWh | $253 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Van Zandt County averages 4.16 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.16 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.244, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 12,038 to 20,891 kWh a year, 74% 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 | 4.93 m/s | 12,038 kWh | 52 years |
| 30 m | 5.44 m/s | 15,592 kWh | 40 years |
| 40 m | 5.83 m/s | 18,474 kWh | 34 years |
| 50 m | 6.16 m/s | 20,891 kWh | 30 years |
Counties around Van Zandt County
4 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Rockwall County, averages 5.71 m/s.
- Rains County, TX: 5.53 m/s, 16,254 kWh, payback 38 years (22 mi)
- Henderson County, TX: 4.92 m/s, 11,999 kWh, payback 52 years (24 mi)
- Kaufman County, TX: 5.62 m/s, 16,907 kWh, payback 37 years (26 mi)
- Wood County, TX: 5.53 m/s, 16,254 kWh, payback 38 years (31 mi)
- Smith County, TX: 4.64 m/s, 10,195 kWh, payback 61 years (35 mi)
- Rockwall County, TX: 5.71 m/s, 17,565 kWh, payback 36 years (41 mi)
Sun versus wind in Van Zandt County
Van Zandt County gets 4.65 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,358 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,561. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.1 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.