Wind Turbine Payback in Yuma County, AZ
Wind turbine payback in Yuma 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 Yuma County, AZ averages 4.57 m/s (10.2 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 9,763 kWh a year, worth $1,500 at AZ's 15.36¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 67 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Yuma County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Yuma County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.8 m/s at the hub against 4.57 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,743 kWh a year here against the turbine's 976, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 51¢/kWh, 3.3 times what AZ pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.8 m/s instead of 4.57. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of AZ
Yuma County is the 1,704th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in AZ is Apache County at 5.25 m/s, payback 46 years.
Month by month in Yuma County
April is the strongest month here, at 5.12 m/s and about 1,100 kWh. September is the weakest, 4.05 m/s and 563 kWh, so the best month makes 2.0 times the worst. November to March brings in 45% of the year's output in Yuma County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.88 m/s | 999 kWh | $153 |
| February | 4.57 m/s | 749 kWh | $115 |
| March | 4.76 m/s | 930 kWh | $143 |
| April | 5.12 m/s | 1,100 kWh | $169 |
| May | 4.84 m/s | 974 kWh | $150 |
| June | 4.64 m/s | 839 kWh | $129 |
| July | 4.33 m/s | 709 kWh | $109 |
| August | 4.02 m/s | 566 kWh | $87 |
| September | 4.05 m/s | 563 kWh | $86 |
| October | 4.29 m/s | 692 kWh | $106 |
| November | 4.62 m/s | 826 kWh | $127 |
| December | 4.78 m/s | 939 kWh | $144 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Yuma County averages 3.58 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.12 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.222, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 7,502 to 13,353 kWh a year, 78% 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 | 4.18 m/s | 7,502 kWh | 87 years |
| 30 m | 4.57 m/s | 9,769 kWh | 67 years |
| 40 m | 4.87 m/s | 11,685 kWh | 56 years |
| 50 m | 5.12 m/s | 13,353 kWh | 49 years |
Counties around Yuma County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Pima County, averages 4.58 m/s.
- La Paz County, AZ: 4.54 m/s, 9,580 kWh, payback 68 years (66 mi)
- Imperial County, CA: 4.5 m/s, 9,339 kWh, payback 33 years (86 mi)
- Maricopa County, AZ: 4.09 m/s, 7,038 kWh, payback 93 years (91 mi)
- Pima County, AZ: 4.58 m/s, 9,824 kWh, payback 66 years (132 mi)
- Riverside County, CA: 3.95 m/s, 6,329 kWh, payback 49 years (138 mi)
- Pinal County, AZ: 4.22 m/s, 7,732 kWh, payback 84 years (148 mi)
Sun versus wind in Yuma County
Yuma County gets 5.97 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,743 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 976. 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.