Flippersail, one large problem I have seen firsthand with small scale wind/solar setups is the high degree of maintenance they require. Having lots of house or building-sized supplemental power systems would require a considerable infrastructure of skilled, "on-call" repair staff. The things would also all have to be installed, either hooked in to supplement the main grid or to boost local power. In a large scale system (i.e. town or city), the design and operation difficulties would be substantial, bordering on nightmarish.
It would be cost-effective and maintenance-friendly to follow the "one big power plant" model rather than the "many, dispersed little ones" plan. That's the trend in powerplant facilities. Takes less staff and logistics. Far cheaper in the long run.
In the case of wind/solar power, I would advise towards construction of localized, large scale farms, currently like many regions in the world have today.
It would be cost-effective and maintenance-friendly to follow the "one big power plant" model rather than the "many, dispersed little ones" plan. That's the trend in powerplant facilities. Takes less staff and logistics. Far cheaper in the long run.
In the case of wind/solar power, I would advise towards construction of localized, large scale farms, currently like many regions in the world have today.