A huge amount of the info on solar PV power on the net is absolute garbage. (I spent 5 years working on the most advanced solar performance optimization and monitoring system developed to date.) I haven't read all of this article, but so far, it looks dead on (you have no idea how rare that is!) Solar is not the panacea many people wish it was, simply due to the way God built the universe - and there's not a thing we can do about that. (And yes, the panels are now only a small part of the cost of a solar system, especially one capable of operating off-grid...)
Looks like I great article. I'll have to defer reading it. During a quick scan I saw a mention of the SMA technology that allows for dedicated outlets to be powered-up in case of grid failure.
I built a 13 kW ground-mount system feeding a pair of SMA inverters. I have tested this feature by disconnecting from the grid and enabling the outlets (one per inverter). I didn't quite get to the 2,000 W rating SMA claims but got close. Which means that with this size of an array and two inverters I get somewhere between 3kW and 4kW of power to run various devices while the sun is up.
Considering that we might have a couple of power outages a year on average (if that), I felt this was a reasonable investment. Going with batteries is just too expensive and not justifiable at all given the reliability of the grid. One way to think about this is that the grid is your battery. A stretch, I know.
Funny that there's a picture of a gasoline generator towards the end of the article. My guess is that I am likely to invest in a 5 kW to 6 kW generator before I ever add batteries to this system. Again, it's a matter of ROI. Also, I would not go with a gasoline powered generator at all. Gasoline degrades with time and could be a nightmare to maintain the system with sporadic use. I think a propane fueled generator might be a better idea. The fuel does not degrade. So long as you don't have leaks it'll be there ready to go when you need it.
I know way too many people who have been mercilessly duped by these solar companies who come in, hook them on some kind of a lease, install inadequate systems and move on to the next victim. Lack of understanding on the side of consumers has created a situation where solar is equivalent to magic and unscrupulous actors can take advantage of them. That part is sad.
