I love that very good post by richhagen.
However when money is limited you may have to work with what you have to get started and later when having more money or slowly over time work into the best items.
If I had money to do it right from the very start I would take the advice posted by others. Working on a budget or broke, I have other ideas. Also you are not wanting much for power, 1.5kw per day for lights and TV? I've ran more than that on a cheapo 300watt inverter!
First although I agree a good low rpm diesel generator is best, you already have a gas one. Keep it for now and only use it as needed. Remove that cost for starting out. Also see what you need to power that well pump, buying a larger inverter may save it's own price by not needing to buy gasolene to pump water. 9amp gennie at 120V is 1080watts, if that powers the pump then perhaps a 1k inverter will also. I am geussing the pump is not maxing out the generator.
Voltage of system? Yes 48V is probably best. Also maybe more expensive. You will need 4 12V batteries or 8 6V batteries to make 48V system work. Everytime you need to expand your power storage you will need to add the same amount of batteries! Not as easy as adding 1 or 2 at a time as in a 12V system. At 48V one battery dies your system is down. At 12V if one dies just remove it (or 2 if using 6V batteries) and keep going with lower storage with the others.
The best batteries will give the longest life when properly cared for, also expensive to buy. I use used batteries I get from scrap yards and pulse charge for awhile to bring them back into service. $5 each or less, I buy by the pound so price varies with market. Not all batteries come back to life. For around $50 I got 10 very large Trojan batteries, 6 I could use. One battery would have cost way over $100 new for certain! 2 L16p 6V trojans in series are 12V 360amp hours. Compare that to 2 T105 trojans new for $140 and 12V @ 200 amp hours. Sometimes used batteries are a bargin if you can get them. I have used and abused my used ones, bouncing them around in a truck bed on bad dirt roads etc.. most still work, though I did loose two of them.
I can buy used T105's tested to be good for $10 each from a golf cart repair place also. Get what you can get.
If you are buying the best inverters and paying big bucks to get started then you need to go with your best voltage right off also. However I am very happy with my AIMS 12V 5,000watt/10,000watt surge inverter. This inverter has powered anything I ever wanted to power provided I had the large enough battery bank to power it of course. I paid around $500 for mine new. I like it being 12V because I use it mobile also, so wire up 1 or 2 12v batteries and I can go into the woods with an electric chainsaw anytime 
I have ran my lathe and milling machine with it fine on 2 used L16p trojans.
The only thing that is a problem has been digital alarm clocks not keeping time, that happens with alot/most of modwave inverters though.
I have to geuss here, but you say 5.5 hours of daytime? Ok, wind has got to be your best bet I think. You already know starting out you don't have enough sun durring the day (in my opion anyway). I could be wrong, but can't really see how in a 24hr period of time you could posibly have less wind for power than what 5.5 hours of daylight would provide for solar. I mean solar pannels are not cheap! Near June when your getting into 19 hours of daylight, then maybe think solar, wind for now perhaps.
I would look at the area quick for a place to raise a cheap PM motor with blades. While not the best windgennie you could build a cheapy for maybe $50 tops that should provide as much power in 24hrs (alot more) as 100watt solar pannel would provide in 5.5 hrs. Where could you get a 100 watt pannel for $50 :O
Building a better windgennie of course would be even better. Unless your in a deep hole with no wind at all I think the wind is the best first bet.
To sum it up, you want 1.5kws a day. But how much all at one time is also the important thing. 1.5kw is only 62.5 watts per hour over 24hrs. Of course we know that's not how your gonna use it really. Your inverter needs to handle the most you will use all at once. For what you said,
"about 1.5 kw's a day for a few lights and a small amount of tv."
I have done more than that with a 300watt cheapy inverter, maybe $50. Maybe 3 CFL lights, small fan, DVD player (wired through VCR), VCR, Old 19" TV, all on at once. TV is a sudden surge when first plugged in and turned on and once I over loaded and shut down the inverter when I turned it on last. TV should be turned on First then other connected items. A Cheap Harbor Frieght 1000watt inverter is on sale right now for $80 (regular $130). For no more than you want to do that should power you up very well and room to spare.
Depending on prices in Alaska or shipping costs etc.. you should be able to build a decent system to get started fast for under $500
- k inverter on sale at HF $80
- new T105 trojans new $70 each, $280. 400 amps hours at 12V. (you need 125amps per day at 12V 1.5kw and not good to discharge too low.)
Used permanant magnet motor with homemade blades and what you can scrounge for a tower, guy wire, some clamps, etc.. you have about a $50 windmill, maybe a $100 if you get fancy.
That's around $410-$460, plus taxes? A bit left over for rectifiers and wire. Figuring brand new batteries. If you luck out and find used ones like I buy, then $50 for more battery power than you need, cut $230 from the above costs.
You also need a dumpload for when batteries are full charged, look on this site for info on that. Should be cheap and easy to build it, dump load can heat water or provide extra heat to the house when wind is blowing and batteries are full charged.
One thing I do like about 12V is it is the most portable and versital voltage. Since I also use inverters remotely as portable power I carry large batteries in my truck and charge while I drive, 12V works great, can't do that with 24V or 48V in a normal pickup truck.
If you are building a big system for alot more power and have the money to buy the best then I would do things differently. To get started cheap with a decent system for low power needs I would be happy with the $500 setup to begin with, then biuld a better larger system latter and use this first one for a backup or other use. Batteries are really the biggest expense in a cheap system, and the batteries can be used in a better system later perfectly fine. Also the wind genie could be used in a different volt system too. Only thing really limited to just 12V is the inverter, it can be used for other uses like portable power in the woods or in a truck when not needed for the home. So nothing is wasted really if later you change to a better more expensive and higher voltage system like 48V. Just have to re-wire everything and replace the $80 inverter which can still be used other ways.
