As stated by wpowokal, I also think you probably have a "swamp cooler".
I am very familiar with El Paso. Still have a house there.
If you are truly talking refrigerated air, it will cost even more than if it is an evaporative cooler.
If you have the room for them (and the money) I would recommend solar panels first. El Paso gets at least
330 days of sunshine a year. But you are still going to need a battery bank that's going to cost at least $10,000 US dollars.
When you are checking the wattage on your "air conditioner", also check the voltage. If it is a larger evap cooler it will be
220 volts. Guaranteed if it is refrigerated air, it's 220. That means you can't go to Harbor Freight (on Yarbrough) and get an inverter to
power the thing. So that's probably another 2,000 to 3,000 dollars for the inverter.
Liker Rover, I congratulate you on thinking and trying to find alternative ways to power things. Unfortunately, most systems that
are supposed to save money, end up costing you out the wazoo before you even get to plug anything in!!
The one thing we can say for sure is "You will never be able to make your own electricity as cheaply as the power company can."
I think you should start small and build up.
El Paso has a lot of power outages. So it would be nice to have lights and watch TV while the rest of the city sits in the dark!!
I know, because I have done it. Get one solar panel and a battery and that Harbor Freight inverter and you're in business.
But all your neighbors might want to come over and watch TV the next time the power goes out!!!!
Don't get discouraged. It just takes time and a lot of thinking and work to get where you want to go. And if
you have a lot of money to throw at the problem, you'll get there faster!!!
Ralph