Hi
Reading your post, if your background consumption is a Kw plus look at your usage. When I started, the lighting load on this house was 2.7Kw alone so by changing from incandescent bulbs to CFLs I reduced it to 700 W, I have since where possible gone over to LEDs. Now in the evening with a normal lighting load, TV running etc. the total load for the house is (at this moment) 480 W and that includes two ponds with pumps and UV filters running.
I took some convincing to start with but the grid is still the cheapest way of obtaining your power. I only have 80W of solar and when I bought it it was still running at about 3GBP per watt it is now less than 1GBP per watt but add the charge controller and inverter, and they haven't dropped a great deal in cost.
Find out what your maximum and minimum requirements is for a month, average it out, and that is the minimum you can get away with. Look at your use find out where you can reduce it. The grid runs, to the great part, 24 hours a day. The wind doesn't always blow, the sun doesn't always shine, you get night time even in the desert, and batteries, unless you put more in than you take out will go flat.
Living on a hill with a decent fast flowing stream is the only way of 24 hour power, but even then the cost of the turbine and alternator will take a long time to recover.
Brian