Wind Turbine Payback in Wood County, WI
Wind turbine payback in Wood 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 Wood County, WI averages 6.06 m/s (13.6 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 20,149 kWh a year, worth $3,838 at WI's 19.05¢/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 Wood County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Wood County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 6.9 m/s at the hub against 6.06 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,121 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,015, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 25¢/kWh, 1.3 times what WI pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 6.9 m/s instead of 6.06. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of WI
Wood County is the 747th 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 Wood County
April is the strongest month here, at 6.84 m/s and about 2,126 kWh. August is the weakest, 4.98 m/s and 1,052 kWh, so the best month makes 2.0 times the worst. November to March brings in 47% of the year's output in Wood County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.47 m/s | 1,969 kWh | $375 |
| February | 6.69 m/s | 1,905 kWh | $363 |
| March | 6.47 m/s | 1,969 kWh | $375 |
| April | 6.84 m/s | 2,126 kWh | $405 |
| May | 6.15 m/s | 1,767 kWh | $337 |
| June | 5.53 m/s | 1,337 kWh | $255 |
| July | 5.01 m/s | 1,072 kWh | $204 |
| August | 4.98 m/s | 1,052 kWh | $200 |
| September | 5.76 m/s | 1,477 kWh | $281 |
| October | 6.35 m/s | 1,897 kWh | $361 |
| November | 6.28 m/s | 1,792 kWh | $341 |
| December | 6.20 m/s | 1,801 kWh | $343 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Wood County averages 4.76 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.78 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.220, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 16,342 to 25,457 kWh a year, 56% 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 | 5.54 m/s | 16,342 kWh | 32 years |
| 30 m | 6.06 m/s | 20,144 kWh | 26 years |
| 40 m | 6.46 m/s | 23,077 kWh | 23 years |
| 50 m | 6.78 m/s | 25,457 kWh | 21 years |
Counties around Wood County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Adams County, averages 6.11 m/s.
- Portage County, WI: 6.07 m/s, 20,223 kWh, payback 26 years (27 mi)
- Marathon County, WI: 6.02 m/s, 19,852 kWh, payback 26 years (33 mi)
- Clark County, WI: 6.02 m/s, 19,852 kWh, payback 26 years (34 mi)
- Adams County, WI: 6.11 m/s, 20,520 kWh, payback 26 years (36 mi)
- Juneau County, WI: 6.11 m/s, 20,520 kWh, payback 26 years (37 mi)
- Jackson County, WI: 6.02 m/s, 19,852 kWh, payback 26 years (39 mi)
Sun versus wind in Wood County
Wood County gets 3.84 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,121 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,015. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.8 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.