Solar power for the home is a good option to have if you have the right system when the power goes out. Without the proper setup, all that a solar power system does for your home is reduce your electricity bill, which isn’t going to help if there is no power coming from the utility service provider. Choose wisely before investing in a solar power system for your home. Buy the solar power system outright, and do not get a loan or lease the system if you ever intend to sell your home.
When you are buying a solar power system for your home, you should get one that has a battery bank to store the power that you are harnessing from the sun that you are not using. This system should also have an ATS, or automatic transfer system, so when the power grid goes out, it automatically transfers the power source from the public utility grid over to the battery bank, and back to grid power when it is restored.
The size of the battery bank should be enough to power your home for at least 2 days. Most electric bills provide how many kWh you use in a month. Assuming you use 600kWh per month, divide that by 30 to get 20kWh per day. You should get at least a 20kWh battery backup system, if possible 40kWh. You can stop using some power hungry appliances during the grid outage like washer/dryer, hair dryer, microwave, or anything that consumes more than a few hundred watts in use. I also recommend charging the battery backup system to the fullest using the cheapest time using grid power. Some electric companies have a time of use plan, so plan accordingly or buy a smart system that will only charge from the grid at the specified time when power is the cheapest.
The size of the solar panel system or the number of kilowatt hours (kWh) it should generate depends on your electricity usage. Assuming the same example as above, you use 600kWh per month, divide that by 30 to get 20kWh per day. A typical 200W panel can generate about 1 to 1.25kWh per day. You should get at least 16 panels, which will cover the daily usage. If you want to have more than your daily usage, you should get 20-24 panels or more.
With this type of solar power system, not only will your electric bills go down significantly, when the public utility power goes out, you will have power for the important appliances and devices like refrigerators, freezers, electric stove, etc. This is the only way to buy a solar power system, and the solar power sales people will always tell you otherwise because they just want to make the sale. Can you DIY a solar power system? Absolutely, but I would seek a professional before installing an ATC or getting on the roof to install the solar panels. If you have enough land, you can put the solar panel on a ground mount. With a ground mounted system, there are options to automatically tilt at optimal angles throughout the year, and an emergency tilt during strong winds to keep the panels from flying off of the mounts. In the end, to have a truly usable solar power system is a costly solution, but it is the only way.