Wind Turbine Payback in Wakulla County, FL
Wind turbine payback in Wakulla 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 Wakulla County, FL averages 3.88 m/s (8.7 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 5,989 kWh a year, worth $918 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 Wakulla County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Wakulla County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.8 m/s at the hub against 3.88 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,396 kWh a year here against the turbine's 599, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 83¢/kWh, 5.4 times what FL pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.8 m/s instead of 3.88. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of FL
Wakulla County is the 2,149th 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 Wakulla County
January is the strongest month here, at 4.36 m/s and about 724 kWh. July is the weakest, 3.22 m/s and 281 kWh, so the best month makes 2.6 times the worst. November to March brings in 54% of the year's output in Wakulla County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.36 m/s | 724 kWh | $111 |
| February | 4.22 m/s | 593 kWh | $91 |
| March | 4.24 m/s | 665 kWh | $102 |
| April | 4.03 m/s | 554 kWh | $85 |
| May | 3.64 m/s | 417 kWh | $64 |
| June | 3.37 m/s | 314 kWh | $48 |
| July | 3.22 m/s | 281 kWh | $43 |
| August | 3.28 m/s | 297 kWh | $46 |
| September | 3.71 m/s | 429 kWh | $66 |
| October | 3.97 m/s | 546 kWh | $84 |
| November | 4.22 m/s | 635 kWh | $97 |
| December | 4.31 m/s | 698 kWh | $107 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Wakulla County averages 3.01 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.37 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.232, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 4,461 to 8,575 kWh a year, 92% 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 | 3.53 m/s | 4,461 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.88 m/s | 5,997 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 4.15 m/s | 7,352 kWh | 89 years |
| 50 m | 4.37 m/s | 8,575 kWh | 76 years |
Counties around Wakulla County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Franklin County, averages 5.6 m/s.
- Leon County, FL: 3.01 m/s, 2,631 kWh, payback over 100 years (26 mi)
- Liberty County, FL: 3.33 m/s, 3,684 kWh, payback over 100 years (33 mi)
- Jefferson County, FL: 3.46 m/s, 4,172 kWh, payback over 100 years (34 mi)
- Gadsden County, FL: 3.01 m/s, 2,631 kWh, payback over 100 years (37 mi)
- Franklin County, FL: 5.6 m/s, 16,762 kWh, payback 39 years (40 mi)
- Taylor County, FL: 3.79 m/s, 5,568 kWh, payback over 100 years (44 mi)
Sun versus wind in Wakulla County
Wakulla County gets 4.78 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,396 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 599. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 2.3 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.