Wind Turbine Payback in Washita County, OK
Wind turbine payback in Washita 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 Washita County, OK averages 6.45 m/s (14.4 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 23,038 kWh a year, worth $3,182 at OK's 13.81¢/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 Washita County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Washita County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.4 m/s at the hub against 6.45 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,428 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,304, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 22¢/kWh, 1.6 times what OK pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.4 m/s instead of 6.45. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of OK
Washita County is the 257th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in OK is Cimarron County at 6.82 m/s, payback 28 years.
Month by month in Washita County
April is the strongest month here, at 7.42 m/s and about 2,467 kWh. August is the weakest, 5.53 m/s and 1,382 kWh, so the best month makes 1.8 times the worst. November to March brings in 43% of the year's output in Washita County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.39 m/s | 1,918 kWh | $265 |
| February | 6.48 m/s | 1,783 kWh | $246 |
| March | 6.96 m/s | 2,273 kWh | $314 |
| April | 7.42 m/s | 2,467 kWh | $341 |
| May | 6.72 m/s | 2,125 kWh | $293 |
| June | 6.61 m/s | 1,992 kWh | $275 |
| July | 5.69 m/s | 1,481 kWh | $205 |
| August | 5.53 m/s | 1,382 kWh | $191 |
| September | 5.96 m/s | 1,596 kWh | $220 |
| October | 6.61 m/s | 2,058 kWh | $284 |
| November | 6.74 m/s | 2,067 kWh | $285 |
| December | 6.40 m/s | 1,924 kWh | $266 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Washita County averages 5.05 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.23 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.223, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 18,918 to 28,671 kWh a year, 52% 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 | 5.89 m/s | 18,918 kWh | 38 years |
| 30 m | 6.45 m/s | 23,050 kWh | 31 years |
| 40 m | 6.88 m/s | 26,174 kWh | 28 years |
| 50 m | 7.23 m/s | 28,671 kWh | 25 years |
Counties around Washita County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Dewey County, averages 6.62 m/s.
- Custer County, OK: 6.45 m/s, 23,038 kWh, payback 31 years (25 mi)
- Kiowa County, OK: 6.26 m/s, 21,632 kWh, payback 34 years (25 mi)
- Caddo County, OK: 6.25 m/s, 21,558 kWh, payback 34 years (36 mi)
- Beckham County, OK: 6.56 m/s, 23,849 kWh, payback 30 years (39 mi)
- Greer County, OK: 6.23 m/s, 21,410 kWh, payback 34 years (40 mi)
- Dewey County, OK: 6.62 m/s, 24,289 kWh, payback 30 years (48 mi)
Sun versus wind in Washita County
Washita County gets 4.89 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,428 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,304. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.6 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.