Hi Crusader, I would recommend reading up on the subjects of the questions that you have. There is usually more than one way to skin a cat, and you have to figure out what will work for you. If it is grid interactive, and you do not need battery backup, then you will likely find that option to be of lower cost per KWH sold or used, although you may find implementing it without batteries more tricky without batteries for a home built wind turbine. Given your monthly consumption, it will take quite an investment to approach your monthly usage energy amount in generation. If you want backup power for when the utility power is out, then you will have to figure out which circuits you need to back up, and for how long, and then figure out the size of batteries that you need. You can probably overcome part of the need for careful design of your system by buying or building more generation than necessary, but I would not recommend that.
As was previously pointed out, conserving an additional KWH of energy is generally much cheaper than generating the power on a microgeneration scale. Most U.S. homes use about 75% of their energy consumption for climate control, so insulation and smart decisions there can make a significant impact on consumption, and hence the amount of generation needed.
Do not confuse conservation with austerity. Most homes in the U.S. could significantly reduce the energy required to run them if they simply added additional insulation and switched to energy efficient lighting and appliances, without effecting the lifestyle at all. With a bit of additional conservation, and a very slight impact on lifestyle, such as turning things off when not in use, and using programable thermostats, additional benefits could be obtained. If accomplishing significant energy savings actually required going without a bath, or cooking your food, then we probably would not see much conservation. The folks on here that I a have visited with who actually live off grid still bathe regularly (well mostly anyway) and cook their food. They just don't watch 5 hours of TV a night and probably don't run much AC (because it uses large amounts of energy which they just don't have the ability to generate) They accomplish a mostly normal lifestyle using a tiny fraction of the energy for their housing than I do. In your case, you will still have the grid for what energy you need which you do not generate.
In your original post, you state how you want to use the RE power when it is available and utility power when it is not. Many modern inverters have the ability to be set up to run that way. Certainly the Xantrex XW and SW series as well as the Outback FX series of inverters generally have this function.
Most of the Outback inverters do have an integrated charger, but that is for charging the batteries from the utility power. You will find that you will still need a controller for your solar, or in place of that, a means to switch (divert) the generated power to another use once the batteries are charged, and for wind a similar diversion scheme. Even if you are selling all of your surplus back to the utility, you will likely find that you still need diversion for wind for the case of when the utility power is out and you have a surplus.
Again I would reiterate reading this site and other sources of information before you plunk down a huge amount of resources so that you have realistic expectations of what you can accomplish and knowledge that what you purchase or build will perform as you desire. One of the regulars on here had a quote on his signature line which I am reminded of now. "Adventure is bad planning" while I think it will be an adventure either way, with a good plan it will likely yield more predictable and favorable results.
Good luck with your system however you choose to build it, and have fun with the project. Rich
