I agree on the critical need to upgrade the power grid. My first job out of the Air Force was at an electric utility as a distribution engineer. This was in the '70's but the need was high even then.
On my grid-tied system, it works like this. About 10 years ago my rural electric co-op made an offer I couldn't refuse (it probably was because they discontinued it a year or two later). They would reimburse 1/2 the costs of materials and labor for installation of any solar or wind generation of any capacity. I sized my turbine and solar generation close to my actual historic usage. When I'm not generating, I buy the power from the co-op at the retail kWh price. When I generate surplus, I sell it to the co-op at the wholesale kWh price. The co-op "evens up" the ledger once a year on a specified month. Like I said, I am using the utility as an inefficient and expensive battery bank.
I could have gone off grid but I didn't want the maintenance time and headache and the price of the required battery capacity. Plus, I HATE fµ¢king around with a lot of acid.
