Creating power has never been easier or cheaper than today. I have been fallowing the adventure for many years. I live off grid and produce all of my power myself.
One of my panels. this is really old school 12 volt 125 watt rv technology is cheap to start but the cost per watt is way higher in the long run than true grid tie technology.
The biggest change over was not producing but use of the power created. Mostly when. In a solar based system You have way more power available than the batteries are capable of accepting. One reason grid tie is vary attractive.
You can join us in the adventure at http://altpower.usbm.ca Here we explore solar systems, wind, methane to name just a small number of the ways of producing power.
We also explore the strategy of extending battery life, by timing your usage to come directly from the panel. Utilizing all the power from your generator when you run it and running it on methane.