for larger ones could run into tens of thousands of dollars.

The Utility-Interactive Residential Solar Power System

The utility-interactive system does have a battery as well as additional controls and is able to both feed into the utility meter to slow or even reverse in case of excess power as well as providing backup during power outages. These systems are very much like those that are used in homes that are totally off-grid and depending on the size of the residential solar power system used as well as the appliances or devices that require power, such a system may support the complete home or only those items that need necessarily be powered up, during a power outage. Because such a residential solar power system uses batteries as well as additional controls, they cost more and depending on the amount of battery reserve these systems may be thirty percent costlier than the utility-tie systems. However, in places that have many power failures, such a system which is automatic and silent are a great advantage. The cost of such a residential solar power system begins with a price tag of five to seven thousand dollars that would be enough to buy a small but expandable solar power system.

The stand alone residential solar power system is normally used where there is no public utility power available and it may be supplemented with a fueled generator for short term support or for shaving peak loads and otherwise such a system is completely independent of the power grid and has no interaction with the public grid at all. They cost anything from five to seven thousand dollars though small cabin-sized systems may only set one back a couple of thousand dollars.