The same way I was doing it back in the '70s, and the same way lots of people are doing it today, it's called going "off the grid". The solar panels and wind turbines provide energy to the home itself, as well as to your battery back-up system, that's how you can be totally off the grid and still have electricity at night! With enough batteries, you can actually go for days on them when there's no sunshine. LINK ANOTHER LINK
If you really want to make your system pay for itself, stay "on the grid" and have it set up where your excess energy, after your batteries are fully charged, goes back INTO the grid, and your local power company will actually pay you for the energy you're providing. If you have a really cloudy winter, and can't recharge your batteries, you can still draw from the grid, and pay for it just like everyone else. The advantage to staying "on the grid" is that if it's just a really cloudy, nasty winter, you can stay on the grid and keep your batteries charged with no problems even if the wind isn't blowing, AND, if the power does go out (trees falling across lines, ice and snow bring them down, etc.), with your battery back-up, and judicial use of it, you can keep your home going, running just the basics, until the electrical company gets their lines repaired, and you won't have to go to an emergency shelter, or freeze to death, or have to resort to using a generator (although I do recommend one 'just in case', as well as emergency kerosene heaters).
