Wind Turbine Payback in Wheeler County, TX
Wind turbine payback in Wheeler 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 Wheeler County, TX averages 6.56 m/s (14.7 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 23,849 kWh a year, worth $3,823 at TX's 16.03¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 26 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Wheeler County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Wheeler County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.6 m/s at the hub against 6.56 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,498 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,385, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 21¢/kWh, 1.3 times what TX pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.6 m/s instead of 6.56. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of TX
Wheeler County is the 139th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in TX is Dallam County at 6.82 m/s, payback 24 years.
Month by month in Wheeler County
April is the strongest month here, at 7.52 m/s and about 2,522 kWh. August is the weakest, 5.64 m/s and 1,449 kWh, so the best month makes 1.7 times the worst. November to March brings in 43% of the year's output in Wheeler County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.50 m/s | 1,989 kWh | $319 |
| February | 6.60 m/s | 1,852 kWh | $297 |
| March | 7.00 m/s | 2,299 kWh | $369 |
| April | 7.52 m/s | 2,522 kWh | $404 |
| May | 6.79 m/s | 2,167 kWh | $347 |
| June | 6.74 m/s | 2,070 kWh | $332 |
| July | 5.84 m/s | 1,572 kWh | $252 |
| August | 5.64 m/s | 1,449 kWh | $232 |
| September | 6.12 m/s | 1,690 kWh | $271 |
| October | 6.66 m/s | 2,089 kWh | $335 |
| November | 6.78 m/s | 2,092 kWh | $335 |
| December | 6.51 m/s | 1,995 kWh | $320 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Wheeler County averages 5.17 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.32 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.216, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 19,746 to 29,299 kWh a year, 48% 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 | 6.01 m/s | 19,746 kWh | 32 years |
| 30 m | 6.56 m/s | 23,814 kWh | 26 years |
| 40 m | 6.98 m/s | 26,868 kWh | 23 years |
| 50 m | 7.32 m/s | 29,299 kWh | 21 years |
Counties around Wheeler County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Hemphill County, averages 6.76 m/s.
- Hemphill County, TX: 6.76 m/s, 25,311 kWh, payback 25 years (29 mi)
- Collingsworth County, TX: 6.22 m/s, 21,336 kWh, payback 29 years (30 mi)
- Gray County, TX: 6.7 m/s, 24,874 kWh, payback 25 years (32 mi)
- Beckham County, OK: 6.56 m/s, 23,849 kWh, payback 30 years (33 mi)
- Roger Mills County, OK: 6.56 m/s, 23,849 kWh, payback 30 years (36 mi)
- Donley County, TX: 6.29 m/s, 21,855 kWh, payback 29 years (44 mi)
Sun versus wind in Wheeler County
Wheeler County gets 5.13 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,498 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,385. 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.