[scottLobster]

You say buy rooftop solar and batteries like it's an option most people have. Depending on who's numbers you go by most American households would be bankrupted by a multi-thousand dollar emergency, they don't have the disposable income for solar and batteries.

That's without even considering legalities regarding grid connection (some utilities don't allow independent operation of solar panels that are also connected to the grid) and the simple fact that most of the country doesn't get enough sun to completely power a house with AC/furnace/fridge/computers 24/7.

Best bet for independent power generation is a propane generator with a healthy stockpile of filled tanks. (propane because it has indefinite shelf life, as opposed to diesel or gasoline).

[test6554]

Good ideas don’t become bad ideas simply because the poor can’t afford it. If 10% or 20% of the country had independent sources of electricity, that would still be much better for our civilization than 0%

[josephcsible]

Isn't rooftop solar usually something you can finance, unlike most emergency expenses?

[toomuchtodo]

Yes, and payback period in many places is less than 10 years, while the equipment will typically last well past its 25 year warranty.

There’s also a 26% federal tax credit, and in some cases state, local, and utility incentives. Generators and fuel don’t receive those financial incentives.

[toomanydoubts]

I'm always baffled when seemingly smart people, mostly from the USA, go on the World Wide Web and make general/universal statements as if their people represented 100% instead of 4.25% of the world population. Don't forget half of the world population lives with less than $5.50 per day.

[toomuchtodo]

We’re not talking about developing countries though. We’re talking about electrical infrastructure in a developed country. The developing world poor are still poor, and these discussions in particular are immaterial to them.

[toomanydoubts]

I just noticed the original post mentioned "middle TN", so sorry for my first comment. Still, I have to be a little pedantic here, do you mean to imply that developing countries do not have electrical infrastructure? Or that somehow the issues that affect developed countries electrical infrastructure do not affect developing ones? I'm genuinely interested in your line of thinking.

Edit: Let me attempt to be clearer here. Lets assume the reddit post is true. Imagine someone living in Brazil or India, they currently do have electrical power. Imagine the electric grid(or parts of) goes down due to the lack of hardware. Now they don't have electricity nor money to invest in solar power. How is that discussion "immaterial" to them?

[atatatat]

On your...rented home?