Yes, it is powered by NG. We really didn’t have room for a big propane tank.
“Is it loud?” — LOL, I’m still waiting to find out. I was out of town when the installation was completed and it was tested. We put it on a side of our house buffered by the attached garage, so we probably won’t hear it. It runs two minutes per week for a self-check and exercise cycle. It also runs 30 minutes once a year for a more exhaustive check. I’ve been meaning to go out and put the “Start” button to hear it myself, but haven’t gotten around to it yet. Our neighbors will probably hear it more than we will. The units have good sound enclosures and mufflers, so the sound is rather subdued.
We hear other generators in the neighborhood during their self-test runs, but theirs are set for 20 to 30 minutes once a week.
A) Like I said my solar system is backup only when the sun's out or only if I have charged my batteries (which means the power outage can't take me by surprise, because usually I have my solar system set to save money, which means drain the batteries before pulling from the grid).
I've been thinking about getting an EV truck if they make one cheap enough. I've also been thinking about upgrading my solar system after it's paid for itself (imagine after it's paid for itself in the 10th year I keep putting what it saves me into an investment account until the batteries have to be replaced around the 19th year, thus I'll have lost of cash that I consider "solar money" to maintain or upgrade the system and be more efficient). Also in the back of my mind is if my power company starts charging me $80-ish a month for the solar fee even if I don't participate in their buyback program. I might say screw them, upgrade my solar system to be what I need except for when it rains for a week at a time, and use a generator on those days (my inverter can automatically fire it up if needed).