Wind Turbine Payback in Yakima County, WA
Wind turbine payback in Yakima 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 Yakima County, WA averages 4.03 m/s (9 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 6,729 kWh a year, worth $970 at WA's 14.42¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of over 100 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Yakima County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Yakima County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.1 m/s at the hub against 4.03 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,186 kWh a year here against the turbine's 673, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 74¢/kWh, 5.2 times what WA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.1 m/s instead of 4.03. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of WA
Yakima County is the 2,037th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in WA is Columbia County at 5.18 m/s, payback 50 years.
Month by month in Yakima County
March is the strongest month here, at 4.44 m/s and about 764 kWh. September is the weakest, 3.82 m/s and 471 kWh, so the best month makes 1.6 times the worst. November to March brings in 43% of the year's output in Yakima County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.95 m/s | 536 kWh | $77 |
| February | 4.13 m/s | 556 kWh | $80 |
| March | 4.44 m/s | 764 kWh | $110 |
| April | 4.29 m/s | 670 kWh | $97 |
| May | 4.02 m/s | 569 kWh | $82 |
| June | 4.09 m/s | 580 kWh | $84 |
| July | 3.96 m/s | 540 kWh | $78 |
| August | 3.79 m/s | 473 kWh | $68 |
| September | 3.82 m/s | 471 kWh | $68 |
| October | 4.01 m/s | 562 kWh | $81 |
| November | 4.06 m/s | 566 kWh | $82 |
| December | 3.85 m/s | 497 kWh | $72 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Yakima County averages 3 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.63 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.270, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 4,800 to 10,132 kWh a year, 111% 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 | 3.62 m/s | 4,800 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 4.03 m/s | 6,747 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 4.36 m/s | 8,513 kWh | 82 years |
| 50 m | 4.63 m/s | 10,132 kWh | 68 years |
Counties around Yakima County
4 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Gilliam County, averages 5.48 m/s.
- Klickitat County, WA: 4.88 m/s, 11,734 kWh, payback 59 years (41 mi)
- Kittitas County, WA: 3.56 m/s, 4,570 kWh, payback over 100 years (46 mi)
- Benton County, WA: 4.84 m/s, 11,472 kWh, payback 61 years (60 mi)
- Skamania County, WA: 3.12 m/s, 2,970 kWh, payback over 100 years (65 mi)
- Sherman County, OR: 4.8 m/s, 11,212 kWh, payback 58 years (73 mi)
- Gilliam County, OR: 5.48 m/s, 15,893 kWh, payback 41 years (77 mi)
Sun versus wind in Yakima County
Yakima County gets 4.06 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,186 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 673. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.8 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.