If you think about it, the grid is a wonderful piece of technology that makes our lives work. We all need electricity and the grid gives us that infrastructure 99.9% of the time.
Sure, we get the odd power cut and we hate paying high electricity bills, but the grid does serve its purpose.
When you add solar onto your grid connected house, you immediately get the benefit of reduced electricity costs, however there are two problems that can occur. First, you might find that you export more power than you like (especially if your system has been oversized through poor design), and second, when there is a power cut, you find that your system shuts down. This shut down is required by electricity standards so that electrical workers who come to repair your power lines during a blackout are not electrocuted by unexpected electricity coming from your system.
Exporting too much power can be solved by adding batteries to your system
The battery inverter in this type of set up has an emergency power system (EPS) that keep you running during a blackout—but only until the battery runs flat. This is fine for most power cuts that only last a few hours, but your solar panels cannot be used to recharge the batteries. The power available during EPS mode is limited and how long it lasts depends on what devices are using the power. This option can be great for limited loads like a water pump, lights, computer and maybe your fridge. However, you have to decide ahead of time how much reserve to keep available in your battery for EPS mode and this then limits the benefit of your battery for self-consumption of solar power.