I have a ham radio buddy who lives remotely in the mountains with no outside power. He's pretty handy, and put in his own solar system. Did a good job of it, too. (Funny, but his name is "Edison.") We chat over the air on the popular 2-meter band, which uses a system of repeaters to cover the entire state. Given his situation, he often has barely enough power to hit the repeater. (Most VHF radios have a two-watt and a five-watt output, and he usually has to use the lower setting. Often, this is fed into an amp ranging from 20-watts on up to the full legal 1500-watts.) The only time I can really hear him is late at night, when his batteries finally give out and he kicks on the generator. "Then, I can run 'er on up on the amplifier," he says.
Edison also uses solar for hot water. "The only time we really get a good shower is on a cloudy day, when the propane burner has to replace the sun."