Wind Turbine Payback in Vernon Parish, LA
Wind turbine payback in Vernon 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 Vernon Parish, LA averages 3.17 m/s (7.1 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 3,132 kWh a year, worth $416 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 Vernon Parish
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Vernon Parish unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.6 m/s at the hub against 3.17 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,329 kWh a year here against the turbine's 313, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 160¢/kWh, 12.0 times what LA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.6 m/s instead of 3.17. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of LA
Vernon Parish is the 2,915th 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 Vernon Parish
April is the strongest month here, at 3.66 m/s and about 411 kWh. July is the weakest, 2.52 m/s and 118 kWh, so the best month makes 3.5 times the worst. November to March brings in 52% of the year's output in Vernon Parish.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.38 m/s | 329 kWh | $44 |
| February | 3.51 m/s | 334 kWh | $44 |
| March | 3.57 m/s | 391 kWh | $52 |
| April | 3.66 m/s | 411 kWh | $55 |
| May | 3.29 m/s | 300 kWh | $40 |
| June | 2.82 m/s | 172 kWh | $23 |
| July | 2.52 m/s | 118 kWh | $16 |
| August | 2.59 m/s | 131 kWh | $17 |
| September | 2.86 m/s | 182 kWh | $24 |
| October | 3.15 m/s | 259 kWh | $34 |
| November | 3.33 m/s | 302 kWh | $40 |
| December | 3.38 m/s | 329 kWh | $44 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Vernon Parish averages 1.87 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.05 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.480, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 1,585 to 6,831 kWh a year, 331% 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 | 2.61 m/s | 1,585 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.17 m/s | 3,130 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 3.64 m/s | 4,899 kWh | over 100 years |
| 50 m | 4.05 m/s | 6,831 kWh | over 100 years |
Counties around Vernon Parish
6 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Rapides Parish, averages 3.85 m/s.
- Beauregard Parish, LA: 3.83 m/s, 5,753 kWh, payback over 100 years (33 mi)
- Allen Parish, LA: 3.83 m/s, 5,753 kWh, payback over 100 years (38 mi)
- Sabine Parish, LA: 3.27 m/s, 3,471 kWh, payback over 100 years (38 mi)
- Rapides Parish, LA: 3.85 m/s, 5,847 kWh, payback over 100 years (39 mi)
- Newton County, TX: 3.18 m/s, 3,165 kWh, payback over 100 years (39 mi)
- Sabine County, TX: 3.27 m/s, 3,471 kWh, payback over 100 years (43 mi)
Sun versus wind in Vernon Parish
Vernon Parish gets 4.55 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,329 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 313. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 4.2 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.