“Bzzt”, and the power goes off.  Without prompt restoration much urban infrastructure would be inoperative.  When the grid goes down, can you reliably power for what you NEED electricity for? We wealth-challenged need to think small.  Solar path lights (say $4 each), charged in the sun can provide light all night to safely move thru your home.  Look for ones with a switch for the light so YOU control whether it comes on, conserving the battery.  Pick a flashlight & radio with matching batteries and you can swap and keep them charged also.

The photo is a salvaged cordless electric mower. For ease of math, the power discussion for the mower ignores conversion losses.  It contains two 12 volt, 20 amp/hr batteries, (480 watt/hr total) discharge rated at 8 amp.  In parallel they should provide up to 192 watts for up to 2.5 hours.  It has "on board" a 150 watt inverter.  The panel is a Siemens (used from the flea market) 50 watt, which thru a 7 amp controller should recharge “empty” batteries in 10 hours of sunlight.  Full discharge is of course NOT a good idea.  While the mower project can be seen as just a toy, SOME sustainable electricity certainly beats NO electricity.

If your finances and space allow, more batteries, more panels, a windmill, etc. can mean much more home power, but only the very few could match grid power of 22 kilowatt (110 v with 200 amp service) available to a “typical" American household 24/7.  We’re spoiled by cheap fuel, cheap abundant power, and the goods and infrastructure they power.  When the abundance wanes, where will you stand?