“In this case, going solar and getting off the grid is a wise thing to do. Not only is it going to get yet more expensive, it’s probably going to get more unreliable too. “
RLM can speak for himself, but I suspect that his system will go down when the grid goes down, as it costs a lot more to be able to operate in “Island Mode”. So for that capability you need to pay more and likely have at least some batteries - unless you have a way to pull power right from the panels during a blackout (not easy to do, but doable for RLM, since he installed, and therefore understands, the system).
You’re correct about the grid-tied system going down when the utility power goes off. A system capable of generating A/C during a utility outage is an order of magnitude more complicated to avoid back feeding the grid. The current system is simply to avoid the higher tier penalty for using too much power. And, MV=PY is correct that the grid-tied system uses the grid to maintain phase, and absent any A/C from the grid, a grid-tied system must shut down. Since I have considerable land around my home, and a motorhome parked on the property, I could easily divert the output from the solar panels to sustain batteries and the A/C power in the motorhome indefinitely, by way on the on-board inverter. In fact, the motorhome is parked adjacent to the solar panel array so it would only take a few minutes to make the connection.