Wind Turbine Payback in Washburn County, WI
Wind turbine payback in Washburn 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 Washburn County, WI averages 5.62 m/s (12.6 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 16,907 kWh a year, worth $3,221 at WI's 19.05¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 31 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Washburn County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Washburn County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 6.9 m/s at the hub against 5.62 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,092 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,691, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 30¢/kWh, 1.6 times what WI pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 6.9 m/s instead of 5.62. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of WI
Washburn County is the 1,155th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in WI is Manitowoc County at 7.32 m/s, payback 18 years.
Month by month in Washburn County
April is the strongest month here, at 6.08 m/s and about 1,670 kWh. July is the weakest, 4.80 m/s and 952 kWh, so the best month makes 1.8 times the worst. November to March brings in 46% of the year's output in Washburn County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.92 m/s | 1,626 kWh | $310 |
| February | 6.16 m/s | 1,604 kWh | $306 |
| March | 5.94 m/s | 1,637 kWh | $312 |
| April | 6.08 m/s | 1,670 kWh | $318 |
| May | 5.59 m/s | 1,416 kWh | $270 |
| June | 5.18 m/s | 1,132 kWh | $216 |
| July | 4.80 m/s | 952 kWh | $181 |
| August | 4.90 m/s | 1,006 kWh | $192 |
| September | 5.62 m/s | 1,391 kWh | $265 |
| October | 5.84 m/s | 1,576 kWh | $300 |
| November | 5.83 m/s | 1,514 kWh | $288 |
| December | 5.64 m/s | 1,449 kWh | $276 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Washburn County averages 4.33 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.35 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.238, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 13,255 to 22,299 kWh a year, 68% 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 | 5.11 m/s | 13,255 kWh | 40 years |
| 30 m | 5.62 m/s | 16,930 kWh | 31 years |
| 40 m | 6.02 m/s | 19,864 kWh | 26 years |
| 50 m | 6.35 m/s | 22,299 kWh | 24 years |
Counties around Washburn County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Polk County, averages 6.08 m/s.
- Burnett County, WI: 5.77 m/s, 18,006 kWh, payback 29 years (28 mi)
- Sawyer County, WI: 4.85 m/s, 11,537 kWh, payback 46 years (31 mi)
- Barron County, WI: 6.03 m/s, 19,926 kWh, payback 26 years (32 mi)
- Douglas County, WI: 5.45 m/s, 15,677 kWh, payback 34 years (40 mi)
- Rusk County, WI: 5.19 m/s, 13,837 kWh, payback 38 years (43 mi)
- Polk County, WI: 6.08 m/s, 20,297 kWh, payback 26 years (43 mi)
Sun versus wind in Washburn County
Washburn County gets 3.74 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,092 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,691. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.5 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.