> Taking a single family home off grid using slightly over sized solar and batteries is already cost competitive in most areas.
What areas? I've checked a few and it wasn't remotely close.
It starts being doable if you are willing to do things like load shed during the night - but I'm not. The goal would be for a zero impact on my lifestyle storage system (e.g. multiple days of storage for A/C use during cloudy/stormy weather, no 'no laundry days', etc.) and that simply isn't realistic yet.
I find this important since when I do go off-grid, I think it's immoral for me to expect the poorer folks who can't afford such equipment to subsidize my free battery by keeping an "emergency" backup connection like pretty much all "off grid" folks I personally know. Yes, it gets real cheap when you don't have to size for an expected worst-case - but that's not very interesting to me.
That said - some of the DIY hacker style projects are getting rather close. It's very tempting to start looking for a couple old Tesla battery packs and the like these days and go it alone. If that's the case, I expect within 5-10 years it will actually be doable commercially off the shelf.
First a backup generator is a lot cheaper than a backup grid connection for the next 20 years. Now, some would look at that as an extra cost, but IMO most homes should have an undersized backup in case the grid goes down anyway.
Next installation costs quotes are often insane, but basic equipment costs are not even close to that. A ~10KW system for ~1,600 kWh/month as a reasonable off grid system that's well above most homes normal usage levels and depending on battery power that should be well under 20,000$ before government incentives.
Now, you can start running the numbers on payback periods and whatnot, but it's close enough you need to consider your local rates not just dismiss it out of hand. Sure, you could use fewer panels but panels are only ~1/3 of the system price so no need to scrimp on them.
What areas? I've checked a few and it wasn't remotely close.
It starts being doable if you are willing to do things like load shed during the night - but I'm not. The goal would be for a zero impact on my lifestyle storage system (e.g. multiple days of storage for A/C use during cloudy/stormy weather, no 'no laundry days', etc.) and that simply isn't realistic yet.
I find this important since when I do go off-grid, I think it's immoral for me to expect the poorer folks who can't afford such equipment to subsidize my free battery by keeping an "emergency" backup connection like pretty much all "off grid" folks I personally know. Yes, it gets real cheap when you don't have to size for an expected worst-case - but that's not very interesting to me.
That said - some of the DIY hacker style projects are getting rather close. It's very tempting to start looking for a couple old Tesla battery packs and the like these days and go it alone. If that's the case, I expect within 5-10 years it will actually be doable commercially off the shelf.