Wind Turbine Payback in Yuba County, CA
Wind turbine payback in Yuba 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 Yuba County, CA averages 3.74 m/s (8.4 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 5,342 kWh a year, worth $1,740 at CA's 32.58¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 58 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Yuba County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Yuba County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 5.4 m/s at the hub against 3.74 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,492 kWh a year here against the turbine's 534, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 94¢/kWh, 2.9 times what CA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 5.4 m/s instead of 3.74. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of CA
Yuba County is the 2,255th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in CA is San Francisco County at 6.53 m/s, payback 13 years.
Month by month in Yuba County
December is the strongest month here, at 4.22 m/s and about 657 kWh. June is the weakest, 3.41 m/s and 329 kWh, so the best month makes 2.0 times the worst. November to March brings in 52% of the year's output in Yuba County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.13 m/s | 614 kWh | $200 |
| February | 4.13 m/s | 555 kWh | $181 |
| March | 3.89 m/s | 515 kWh | $168 |
| April | 3.65 m/s | 408 kWh | $133 |
| May | 3.53 m/s | 376 kWh | $123 |
| June | 3.41 m/s | 329 kWh | $107 |
| July | 3.40 m/s | 334 kWh | $109 |
| August | 3.41 m/s | 339 kWh | $110 |
| September | 3.54 m/s | 370 kWh | $121 |
| October | 3.71 m/s | 441 kWh | $144 |
| November | 3.83 m/s | 475 kWh | $155 |
| December | 4.22 m/s | 657 kWh | $214 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Yuba County averages 2.69 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.36 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.300, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 3,620 to 8,517 kWh a year, 135% 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 | 3.31 m/s | 3,620 kWh | 85 years |
| 30 m | 3.74 m/s | 5,344 kWh | 57 years |
| 40 m | 4.08 m/s | 6,974 kWh | 44 years |
| 50 m | 4.36 m/s | 8,517 kWh | 36 years |
Counties around Yuba County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Butte County, averages 4.25 m/s.
- Sutter County, CA: 3.93 m/s, 6,231 kWh, payback 49 years (25 mi)
- Butte County, CA: 4.25 m/s, 7,897 kWh, payback 39 years (31 mi)
- Nevada County, CA: 3.32 m/s, 3,648 kWh, payback 84 years (31 mi)
- Placer County, CA: 3.43 m/s, 4,056 kWh, payback 76 years (36 mi)
- Colusa County, CA: 3.92 m/s, 6,182 kWh, payback 50 years (48 mi)
- Sierra County, CA: 3.32 m/s, 3,648 kWh, payback 84 years (49 mi)
Sun versus wind in Yuba County
Yuba County gets 5.11 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,492 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 534. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 2.8 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.