OK, Solar power for your home. First thing I will tell you, is that yes , it is expensive. But one of the most important things about solar is that it will NOT learn to live with you, you will have to learn to live with it.
I am not a good person to crunch the numbers to tell you what you need. However, as a person living on solar for over 16 years and having built my entire system, 1 panal at a time, I am the person who can help you go in the right direction. I will be able to help you find the best deals on solar, the best equipment to buy and how to install it. And like Survivor has already found out, quality does cost more, especially in this area.
The first thing you need to do , is to figure out what you really could live without. For instance, ANY elect heating/cooking device's need to go. Elec Ranges, etc will not do ! Next, how to you cut your consumption of grid power down ? In the case of ranges, water heaters and regular heaters, you need to switch to propane/natural gas . Now in your heating system, you can heat rooms one by one that you actually live in or use as I do. One of the best propane or nat gas heaters you can buy is a unit made by "Cozy". They are the safest and most reliable heaters you can buy. Amazing heat and also on thermostat. I have been using one of them in our bedroom for about 8-9 years now. Vented directly through the wall. Now my living room heater and here in my office , I use the cheaper heaters like the ones from Northern Tool. The older models were not good as they were not efficient and did produce a lot of carbon monoxide , again , not good. The newer models are really good. About 99% efficient and now safe even for bedrooms. The better ones like in my living room also work on a thermostat.
Now lets look at lights. I know a lot of people are now starting to look into led lights. They work great for my flashlight, but in the house I prefer "whole room lighting" So, about 15 years ago , I made the plunge and paid about 20.00 for my first compact fluorescent bulb. Never went back to incandescent again. They come on slower then the older model bulbs, but they work overall very well. I now use them in every room. I can run about 6 of them at the same time and only use the power of about one old fashoned 100 wattl bulb.
Solar panels. Oh s...t. This is a big area and needs a lot of big words to describe. Survivor, I have 2 of the sharp panels, along with 2 mitsibishi panels, and 12 of the Kyrocera (best) panels, all in about the same voltage and wattage. I also run 2 new panels that are much larger on a different voltage, but am able to accomplish this by using an outback mppt 60 charge controller to convert my voltage to 12 volts which the rest of my system is.
We will get into much more detail later if you really want to know more. But be advised , the JUNK you will find at ebay and especially harbor freight is not worth the shipping charges, much less the money you spend on hopeing to get something usefull.
You will need to figure out the things on consumption and then we will have more to talk about. Believe, me, this is a very lengthy subject and I will try and post some pictures here of my system very soon.