Wind Turbine Payback in Wasatch County, UT
Wind turbine payback in Wasatch 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 Wasatch County, UT averages 3.18 m/s (7.1 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 3,165 kWh a year, worth $417 at UT's 13.19¢/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 Wasatch County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Wasatch County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.7 m/s at the hub against 3.18 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,402 kWh a year here against the turbine's 317, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 158¢/kWh, 12.0 times what UT pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.7 m/s instead of 3.18. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of UT
Wasatch County is the 2,904th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in UT is Daggett County at 5.32 m/s, payback 51 years.
Month by month in Wasatch County
April is the strongest month here, at 3.59 m/s and about 386 kWh. July is the weakest, 2.84 m/s and 182 kWh, so the best month makes 2.1 times the worst. November to March brings in 45% of the year's output in Wasatch County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.12 m/s | 251 kWh | $33 |
| February | 3.37 m/s | 294 kWh | $39 |
| March | 3.54 m/s | 381 kWh | $50 |
| April | 3.59 m/s | 386 kWh | $51 |
| May | 3.17 m/s | 265 kWh | $35 |
| June | 3.23 m/s | 275 kWh | $36 |
| July | 2.84 m/s | 182 kWh | $24 |
| August | 2.90 m/s | 197 kWh | $26 |
| September | 3.01 m/s | 215 kWh | $28 |
| October | 3.06 m/s | 237 kWh | $31 |
| November | 3.17 m/s | 256 kWh | $34 |
| December | 3.13 m/s | 256 kWh | $34 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Wasatch County averages 2.22 m/s; at 50 m it is 3.75 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.326, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 2,000 to 5,387 kWh a year, 169% 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 | 2.78 m/s | 2,000 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.17 m/s | 3,148 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 3.49 m/s | 4,277 kWh | over 100 years |
| 50 m | 3.75 m/s | 5,387 kWh | over 100 years |
Counties around Wasatch County
6 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Carbon County, averages 4.73 m/s.
- Utah County, UT: 3.6 m/s, 4,736 kWh, payback over 100 years (31 mi)
- Summit County, UT: 3.82 m/s, 5,707 kWh, payback over 100 years (38 mi)
- Duchesne County, UT: 3.72 m/s, 5,253 kWh, payback over 100 years (39 mi)
- Salt Lake County, UT: 3.41 m/s, 3,980 kWh, payback over 100 years (46 mi)
- Carbon County, UT: 4.73 m/s, 10,762 kWh, payback 70 years (55 mi)
- Morgan County, UT: 3.22 m/s, 3,299 kWh, payback over 100 years (57 mi)
Sun versus wind in Wasatch County
Wasatch County gets 4.8 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,402 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 317. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 4.4 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.