I'm currently making plans to sell my suburban home next year, and homestead somewhere as remote as reasonably possible. My tele-commuting job is what will make this possible. And because I use voice communications (Skype) for my work, satellite internet will not be possible. I will need some form of broadband, which means I will be close enough to civilization to probably have grid power too. So, what does this have to do with anything? One of my reasons for wanting to homestead is a desire for TRUE self-sufficiency and preparedness. Even if I have access to the grid, I want to generate my own power. So, most likely, I would have a grid-tied system. So here, finally, is my question: If I have a grid-tied system, what happens if something horrible happens to the grid? (Terrorist attack, total economic collapse -- whatever). If I was a net producer of power, would my stuff still work? Or would I have to have some contingency plan or alternate setup to be able to run off-grid in such a situation?