Here's what I have done a few times with old computers. After installing Linux on them, I have used them to teach the Computer Merit Badge to boy scouts at the summer science camp run by our local council. At the end of it, scouts who did not have their own PCs took the machines home. By the end, scouts did not just have machines they knew how to use - they had machines they knew how to program - even though the programming requirements for the Computer Merit Badge are rudimentary, the longest journey is the one that's never begun and the badge took them the first few steps down the path.

In order to protect workers, you really do need to use high grade gear if you connect your generator to the grid (I don't know whether $2K is a reasonable price). But, if you want to just power some circuits in the house, get a transfer switch and connect the circuits to it. You will then be able to switch the circuits from being powered by the grid to being powered by what you generate.