Use an alt. power source and UPS's (Score 1)

UPS batteries themselves are usually not deep-cycle, so you may end up replacing them after drawing them down heavilly several times. The solar array idea (with deep-cycle batteries) may end up being quite economical in the long run as they will be useful even if power is up (and then sun is too). Of course, the UPS's will still have their value to protect the most sensitive electronics (computers, entertainment/A-V centers), especially if your alternate source of power takes a long time switching ovber (relatively speaking, fractions of a second).