Hey Brent,
It is in the Off topic section of the forum,
Title is: Renewable Energy: Choosing between solar and wind.
Their are about 5 pictures, just tap each picture and it will open up into your media launcher. Let me know if you have trouble, I can always send them to you via your email too.
First part is how I went about the entire project, it has its pro's and con's. Yes, for short-term turning your 10K gas generator to work on propane would be a great idea. Let me know what you find out. I've got a brand new 6K, new 10 K that are still in the box and a used 10K, wouldn't mind seeing a gas one, but never heard anyone who tired. I've seen the monster generators that work off natural gas, they sell them at the John Deere distributor just up the road in Burkburnett, but have never met anyone who has purchased it.
Your right on the copper, as I said in the post, I've got a couple of cameras on the whole setup and they are tied into both my cellphone, laptop at work and my wife's computer. Not to mention we have a trip plate on the grounds if someone should be stupid to enter without permission. My weed guy made that mistake and it opens the door to my lovely dog Cujo. Cujo likes meat, especially if it runs, lol. All joking aside, the copper does run down along the metal frame, until it reaches the house, from there on in, until the line hits the $15K transformer apparatus that feeds the battery and then back to the Electricity company, everything is in the house via electric conduit. Texas Electric had to install a different meter that registers the amount of solar energy produced. We typically get a quarterly statement of how much they bought back. However, we have a great handle on how much it saves us, from our prior electric bills and I can say that we have saved at least $4K annually because we run a pool all year long. I assume if we didn't run the pool, we are talking that are bill would be about $30-40 a month and that is with the AC running during the summer (we average 100 days of 100 degrees here).
As for wind, well a friend has a wind generator at his home in Lubbock, he actually works at the company that produces them. He told me that he is generating enough electricity that he is getting a good check back from selling it to a local energy provider. Got to remember Lubbock, Texas is the home of Texas Tech, the city is pretty progressive there...the campus is the downtown and the outlying corporations are turning to Wind turbines to reduce their overhead. The only restricted area is over by the airport, they have a maximum ceiling, but just 20 miles east of Lubbock in Crosbyton, they have some large ones...Google Earth the town, you can see the ones the school have by the track and the five or six large generators are just East of town, look for the circles with a line, you can see the shadow and if you get it down low enough can see them. They are monsters turbines and they have a larger set up that is nearby as you come west into Lubbock. The only other place I saw a bigger setup was right outside by Imperial Valley California and this was way back in the 90's. I am sure Cali has some bigger fields since they were one of the first to opt for the renewable energy idea.
Roger on the rich uncle. Like I said in the post we took advantage of Obama's crazy ideas. I figure I was tired of giving without getting. I get tired of watching my kids who I teach disrespect federal money because of the free lunch program, they throw out so much that any starving Somalia would give a years worth of rice to eat. So took advantage and built it, granted we paid a ton of money out of our pocket, but we will get our return...worse case, if the SHTF, we will have all the electricity we need at the BOL, because I am hauling the panels, generator and anything else I can strip before leaving.
Later