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Actually I think your degree of "alternative" is up to you. At its most basic you can get setup with a system that generates power (from solar say) during the day and pumps it onto the electrical grid, or just cuts down the amount your using from the grid. If you pump power(make more than you use) into the grid (not to be done without proper installation for safety) then your meter runs backwards. Then later when you're using more than you make the meter goes forward again. In that method you use the grid as a battery. For true "off-grid" yeah, you need batteries, no way around it. You also need to cut down on your use. Face it, as americans we are hopeless wasters of electricity. Electric stoves are hideously inefficient, so are most AC units although thats getting better. They say that every $1 spend making your life more efficient is worth $5 in generation which makes a bunch of sense. I have a feeling, based on the way things are going, that it will start to become cost effective to produce your own power in about 10 years. Electric power from the grid ain't getting any cheaper, while larger production runs and better technology are bringing down the cost of solar panels. Still with the battery issue we're gonna need to conserve, conserve, conserve. Compact flourescent light bulbs, newer less energy wasting appliances, the whole bit.
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