I think many are pessismistic or have incorrect assumptions on how much these new residentials use. In our case our residential uses about as much as our TV(S) and computer use depending on how much time we are inside and using them. Having said that, if one were to use ALMOTS numbers there would be less chance of being dissapointed in the results and a better chance that one would be prepared for what is required to power the fridge. If it was just the fridge that had to be powered and not microwaves, toasters, TV's, computers and coffee makers, really, four batteries and a 400 watt solar system would be adequate without genny usage AS LONG AS IT WAS SUNNY. However, since many of us are power hogs (my hand is up here) for those users it would make sense to increase the battery bank and solar array. For us we have 8 batteries and 800 watts of solar. We still run our genny an hour in the morning and an hour at night. Having said that, we pretty much did that before we put the residential fridge in so for us nothing much has changed.
