I live in the south eastern US. Everything in my home operates on electricity, water (I have to pump it twice), air conditioning (7 tons total), cooking, washer & dryer, and the normal household stuff.
We do try to watch what we have on most of the time. When you have limited time on the weekend to perform all the weekly preparations. Things can add up very quickly. My other half is washing and drying clothes, cooking the weekly meals, and cleaning the house. Then, I may be working on something in the garage. It is that maximum KW usage that the system must be designed to handle. Not your monthly, weekly, or even daily, average.
The Emporia Energy monitor sure did open my eyes as to exactly what I was using, and when. I knew that I had a high demand for electricity and originality only wanted to reduce that consumption rate. The power company solar connection agreement threw cold water on that thought process very quickly.
So, it is to go totally off-grid. By that, I mean only use the utility to run some battery chargers when the demand exceeds the battery capacity.
I was waiting on the Sol-Ark 15k to come out before I made my purchases, but as I learn more. I am beginning to think using 48v systems is not the way to go for powering a home. I am not completely sold on thought just yet, but it is becoming more apparent day by day.