Power outage is especially a big deal if you need it for heat and live in a cold climate (-30C for the last week at my house). Wood burning stove as a back up to the furnace is a good idea.

When we moved into our current house there was lots of construction happening in the area. We received a massive wake up call when the water main supplying our area got hit by an excavator. We didn't have municipal running water for 4 DAYS!!! Luckily we had stores we could go buy water at but if they weren't there..... We started to store water in 5 gallon bottles and we also got a Berkey (mainly for fluoride removal) because it could filter rain water into drinking quality if the situation was ever that dire!!

Great article, solar is very finicky system and there is more opinions out there than days in the year about pieces and components. I have installed a few systems from varying manufactures and makes and they all seem equal IMO. Don't stress when you see people hyping this brand or that cause they all pretty well work the same!! =)