I'm in the Las Vegas area. You do not need a battery backup system. You'll still be using power from NV Energy. Your system will be sending power back to them. Usually you will have a minimum of an 80% offset. Meaning you will generate about 80% of what you use. The solar system dropped my monthly average down to between $25 and $30 including my service charge from NV Energy. Hope this helps.
A battery back-up system will add to the cost of a solar system, and needs to be planned in advance.
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