Continuing:
Let me back up a minute. When considering an alternative source (i.e. "renewable energy") there were two that might work for me: (1) solar; (2) wind. Hydro was out, since there is no stream on our property...and it needs to be close to reduce line loss over distance.

Having checked out "INSOLATION"(solar resource) I found what I suspected: WE DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH TO MAKE IT WORTHWHILE. Checking windresource I found we did. Here's how:

Reviewing our power consumption for the previous two years I found the average (daily) consumption in kWh (killowatt hours). Using the average wind resource for our area I calculated the average daily production. I then made an assumption for the purpose of calculation and asked a question:
Given that wind resource would/should be stable over the next decade or so, given that our consumption would stay the same and the cost of electricity would not change [ALL OF WHICH ARE ASSUMPTIONS]....and assuming no down-time (which happened)my simple calculations indicated that payback would occur (considering our total cost for this unit) in 8.6 years.

Now for the thoughts going into the decision for wind vs. solar: In order to produce a similar amount of electricity (i.e. matching the capability of the wind) the cost of just the solar panels to do the job in this Northern latitude was approximately four times the cost of this USED WIND TURBINE. Additionally there would be cost of frames, stands, wire, connectors, etc etc. And there would be a large # of panels in the back yard as well as the roof. So it was unfeasible, though I would have liked it to be feasible.

Additionally, we would require a battery bank and other ancillary equipment, which we obtained anyway, but for our A.C. turbine which is a grid-intertie system batteries are not necessary.

...to continue...