Grid tie Vs off- grid:
I am usually asked this question of whether you are giving grid tie, without a battery bank?
What I do not understand is, People have some kind of a hatred towards Batteries, No idea why. Tell you what, as long as hydrogen storage and usage technologies does not come into the public domain we are stuck with the batteries.
Why Batteries? The production of electricity even from a nuclear plant is uneven, A battery regularizes the output, i.e. excess production is stored and provides balance during low production, maintaining a constant production. So in a solar power-plant system, battery is in a continuous charging or discharging state. Most of the solar packages comes with tower batteries/ tubular batteries, they have a long life, it can be used for 5 - 7years and is totally dependent on how we maintain it.
Grid tie also requires battery, against the common belief that it does not. Due to the unstable production from solar panels, a battery bank has to provided to regularize current. A hydro-electric power station, pumps excess water back into reservoir with excess current, and uses this water to balance out the failing production, certain diesel's compresses flue gasses into the earth, which on retrieval, balances the low production.
Types on inverters :  grid ties is a very costly affair and you need to invest only when you have plans to feed current back to the grid, if you planning for an in-house usage, or if reverse feeding lines are not available then there is another option which can be almost 40 - 50% more cheaper. Most companies provide you with an inverter and the change over from mains has to done manually, while a solar home ups has a built in charge controller which, once the batteries are fully charged and, if there is production then it gives that current into the mains directly and only excess requirement need to supplied by EB. The problem with inverters is that, the excess current drains off into the earth, which is a direct wastage of electricity.  

Energy independence and securty:

A 10,000 years ago, our forefathers shared life and everything from food to shelter, for they had less at that time of everything, and the prowling dangers too high.From then on Human beings on whole, started a race to get independent of everything and every one. from one biosphere for all to one biosphere for everyone. But the sad fact is, we are still depended on everyone. IF you think your actions are not without cause, well, think again. how did the economic recession of 2008, affect all of us, how did the earthquake in Japan affect us?
Think on these you will know that each and every one on this planet is connected irrespective of our political and religious differences. everybody thought IT would help people get independent, well, it did not, sadly the most used thing by a large number of people is still social networking sites like Facebook, twitter etc.every research we do on the internet is written by people like me and you.
 My point for the last 2 para' was to tell you that you cant hide from this world and its problem in a castle of your money and achievements.
We have to be aware of the problems of the world. and I can also tell you that world cannot be saved bby charity.
I want to share a small experience I had a couple of days before,
I was in a hospital, when a 12 year old boy was selling food packets for a living. A person who was near me told that he has been plying that trade for last 5 years. I felt sympathetic as a human being to another and I wanted to do what i could for him and my first thought was to give the poor chap some money. but then I thought, if I gave him money there was no surer way to introduce that small boy into begging. He was in the right path, He was working to make a living, and that truly is a glorious path, a hard one, but the right one. He will never spend that money on drinks or drugs.
My point being, charity cannot save this world. Only actions can, because action have effect on the ones around us. Every action carry a message, certain ones inspiring, certain others motivating and still others the negative one. every great leader proved his worth through actions and the changes those actions brought about in people around them.
A good parent is not the one who lectures, but the one who acts as an example. Every one acknowledges this but when it comes to practice, people starts having second thought on how hard it can be.
I have come to realise that plenty is not enough and it doesn't mean independent either, all it means is greed and that is not good, because it affects your morality and values.
So we have to learn to be content with what we have and enough to live is the only way to move forward, with population explosion and lower production, we are going to have to pay a higher price for everything, so living a life on enough to survive is the mantra for future generations. If we still inspire success based on greed, well, god help us, because there is gonna be a lot of sick and hungry people, you may not be one of the unfortunate, but your children or grand children could be.
Energy independence is also one of the same scenarios. There is no limit to our uses. Every man needs an air-conditioner, It's expensive and comes at a huge maintenance,  but people think, OK I will have to  make some more money. what they don realise is, the money they are spending is finally going to making this environment hotter and more miserable for others. when we run out of money we can always make more or we can print or we can steal, well all of these are options, but there is only one earth and you cant make, steal or print more of those. It may not be apparent to us that world is getting a bit too smaller for our uses, that is because our lives are short.
Its time to acknowledge the gaps in lifestyle and work on it, It is the only way to a healthy life for all the people on the planet. no one wants a nuclear power-plant in their backyard, but the rate at which we are going, when the day is not far when we will have to invest on that along with the house. 60% of our energy consumption still comes from oil , and well it may last for another 100 years but, will the planet with life last that long. Scientists are not very sure of it anymore. 40ft water rise is predicted somewhere in next 50 years,   So its is about time we took sometime to look back and see where we stepped on mud in the path.
you being energy independent alone cannot save the earth, but you can be an example or at least try for a greener way of life. the earthquake in Japan was caused by a very insignificant event on a very much stressed atmosphere.
 if we got 30% of our consumption the green way for a start, we could actually pass a very great message to the younger generation, who is so focused on destroying it with their fast cars, laptops.

Solar requirement:

I sometimes get headed by the question whether I can go independent of EB and rely completely on Solar?
The most dreaded question of all...

Well  first of all, it’s completely possible, people are running boats on solar, 2012 Olympics in London saw solar powered river shuttles and, planes working on solar panels, satellite use panels for a long time.

But the cost is high well yes it is, and I don’t deny it, as a matter of fact I will be the first person to tell you that.  But there is a trick to a great investment in solar energy. But then again I am not saying peanuts, but it will be tremendously lower than the first idea you said.

The thing is first of all we have to define independence the right way,

It does not mean you have everything and you are happy which is impossible, but what it means is to be content with what we have, and limiting our use according to that.

Once you can embrace this idea, you can survive in this world happily. Going back to solar:

If you have a geyser, switch to solar water heater. Convert all the outside lighting into street lamp or solar powered timed Led lamps.  

There are three costs in a solar power plant:

1)      Panel cost

2)      Battery and charger

3)      Wiring

Panel: Buy only the ones made by are responsible company and do not go for cheapest which could be a disaster, because you have to use it for at least 25 years, and since hydrogen storage is not yet realizable in the low cost in the mean time

So what is the trick to investing securely?

Find out your usage per day.

Take every light, fan, TV, computer, mixer, and anything below a 750 watts and that uses continuous supply of current unlike which starts and stops every now and then  and multiply each by corresponding hours of avg usage and total it and divide by 1000 and call it  A. Every kilowatt can produce 4 units per day and about 5 using an MPPT charger. Divide A /5 and find the Kilowatts required. Select a very low range battery with low Ah because it can be cheaper and gives you a decent 2 hour back up, let’s say, 150 Ah. Take the load you are going to running in KW’s and divide it by .7 and you will get the KVA for UPS. Buy it and install.
here in UPS again we have options, we can go for a regular inverter or we can go for a solar home UPS. the basic difference being, solar home ups have built in charge controllers that project the production into the main line and if not used, is either used to charge batteries and if the batteries are charged, it is drained back into earth.  

Putting Ac’s and refrigerators will get costlier, because, It needs a higher KVA UPS, which might scare a person by the cost.

Advantage by this method you shell only a part of what you should spend, and this will make you aware of how it has to be used. After a week you will start using everything in your house depending on how the sun shines and then you can think of upgrading.

Like putting a 12 V wiring

Buying devices with high star rating.

 Change all lamps to Led lights.

I am a sales guy, and my product is solar power-plants. U must think O M G, what an awful time to sell at-least in Kerala. I work for a well reputed company, and my sales have not been great for past 2 months relating to climatic and political conditions. I do not want to elaborate on that way too long because the people who have heard it, they know more about it than the people involved and people who have not heard, an advice, Do not waste your time.

Having said my grievances, I am going to move on.

My sales pitch

A: Good morning sir, I am coming from ***** solar. I want to speak to you regarding a solar power plant that can help you meet your requirements.

C: Please have a seat.

A: thank you, May I know how much your electricity bill is?

C: Xyz, how much will it come to make this independent of the EB

They end up asking this one stupid question. It is not that I don’t pursue, but, this one statement changes all. I start feeling disgusted and just want to walk out the room but since this is my job I have to spend time. It is not because they don have an idea, It's only time wasters who ask this(a tip for fellow sales guys)

1)      Why solar?

2)      What is the hype?

3)      What will I do in the rainy days?

4)      What if I put this investment in the bank, the interest will definitely be more that the returns?

5)      OMG solar, such a huge investment.

6)      Does it really work?

7)      There are some people who ask, what will I do with the waste after 25 – 30 years?

Tell you what this is all bull shit, excuses for not to buy. Or rather I will put it in a different way this is not a washing machine or a new car, it is not something you can do without, It is not something you can wait for.

Ever watched the movie 2012, the only fiction in that move is the name 2012, which would rather be 2050. Global warming, a thing that has been staring into our eyes for past 2 decades or more, and still we refuse to look that way. Do you know how much you depend on electricity? A simple exercise will help you understand, Just switch off the main for 10 minutes and you will know. How much do you sweat when your phone runs of battery, or the fan stops, or even your lap or computer runs out of charge? If you get thirsty, you can wait till home to get a drink, but is electricity like that? No, You need it at the right time, at the right place and in sufficient quantity. The cloth you wear uses electricity to weave, The watch runs on it, The light you read with, the morning coffee etc . This list is a big one, one in all probability people choose to ignore.

60% of jobs are depended on electricity, and the other 40 needs it.

So now you will come to realize, this guy is selling, something I don’t want to buy, have some patience and please read on.

A very simple question, you get stuck on junk food and get obese and you know in your hearts, this lifestyle is unhealthy and it’s going to cost you. The day you fall ill, you will enroll in a gym and get trim, until your determination runs out. Same is the story with everything, when a relationship starts failing, you work on it or you will end up as bitter enemies.

Electricity is the same, consumption is rocketing, way beyond limits, production is failing, and we are assorting to failing methods like coal and diesel and nuclear plants.

So what should we do?

Well first off trim the fat or excess usage.

I will use a common Indian usage,

“No point in digging the well when the house is on fire.”

When I talk to people about depleting oil reserves they say, OMG, oil won’t run out for another 100 years, but my question is will we run out by then?

Most places won survive, when the sea rises 40 ft, and temperature go beyond 40 C even in the winter.

Well if you want put money in bank, put something with which you can buy a ship, so you can live a couple of days longer because, fresh water is definitely going to run out in a ship.

And then about hype, all you other folks will be pointing fingers, and there will be no point on doing it that day.

You are so bent on money and profits,  that it makes me feel that you think of the same even during sex.
about the What to do in rain, depend on EB, but we in India do have 320 - 340 days of uninterrupted sunshine, and if you don buy and give excuses, well I can assure you, there will be no rain and your problem is over.