Rural/Farm Life

I'm off the grid for everything. (It would have cost about $300,000 to hook up to the grid.)

I have a full wood working shop and have been using it as I built the house around me. Sunny days I can use table saw, planner, jointer, whatever as much as I like.

If you've got access to the grid I'd suggest you hook to the grid. That way you will not have to deal with storage (I've got a dozen 'golf cart' batteries).

Then, and I highly recommend this, get some solar panels on your house. That way the power you create will not have to be stored.

From a financial standpoint it does not make sense to disconnect from the grid. You cannot store power as cheaply as you can buy power during off-peak hours. Panels will provide your sunny daytime power and create credits for power during the other parts of the day when your panels are not producing.

Design your system so that you can add more panels as prices fall.