Wind Turbine Payback in Wayne County, UT
Wind turbine payback in Wayne 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 Wayne County, UT averages 4.68 m/s (10.5 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 10,445 kWh a year, worth $1,378 at UT's 13.19¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 73 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Wayne County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Wayne County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.7 m/s at the hub against 4.68 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,545 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,045, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 48¢/kWh, 3.6 times what UT pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.7 m/s instead of 4.68. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of UT
Wayne County is the 1,635th 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 Wayne County
April is the strongest month here, at 5.65 m/s and about 1,406 kWh. August is the weakest, 3.74 m/s and 454 kWh, so the best month makes 3.1 times the worst. November to March brings in 45% of the year's output in Wayne County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.71 m/s | 902 kWh | $119 |
| February | 5.09 m/s | 1,010 kWh | $133 |
| March | 5.25 m/s | 1,208 kWh | $159 |
| April | 5.65 m/s | 1,406 kWh | $185 |
| May | 4.87 m/s | 991 kWh | $131 |
| June | 4.95 m/s | 1,003 kWh | $132 |
| July | 3.79 m/s | 471 kWh | $62 |
| August | 3.74 m/s | 454 kWh | $60 |
| September | 4.22 m/s | 638 kWh | $84 |
| October | 4.63 m/s | 859 kWh | $113 |
| November | 4.60 m/s | 818 kWh | $108 |
| December | 4.69 m/s | 893 kWh | $118 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Wayne County averages 3.69 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.23 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.217, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 8,103 to 14,116 kWh a year, 74% 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 | 4.29 m/s | 8,103 kWh | 94 years |
| 30 m | 4.68 m/s | 10,453 kWh | 73 years |
| 40 m | 4.98 m/s | 12,419 kWh | 61 years |
| 50 m | 5.23 m/s | 14,116 kWh | 54 years |
Counties around Wayne County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Kane County, averages 4.9 m/s.
- Garfield County, UT: 4.66 m/s, 10,320 kWh, payback 74 years (39 mi)
- Emery County, UT: 4.5 m/s, 9,339 kWh, payback 81 years (54 mi)
- Sevier County, UT: 4.02 m/s, 6,678 kWh, payback over 100 years (56 mi)
- Piute County, UT: 4.02 m/s, 6,678 kWh, payback over 100 years (62 mi)
- San Juan County, UT: 4.51 m/s, 9,399 kWh, payback 81 years (80 mi)
- Kane County, UT: 4.9 m/s, 11,866 kWh, payback 64 years (82 mi)
Sun versus wind in Wayne County
Wayne County gets 5.29 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,545 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,045. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.5 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.