The thing is, running a generator at near idle for small loads is horribly inefficient, and with a diesel genset will actually cause failure in the long run (they coke up). With a large enough battery bank you can run the genset at 3/4 load, charge the batt bank in 4-6 hours and quietly coast on stored power for a day or 3.
Fuel storage however is a problem, don't bother storing gasoline, its almost impossible to keep it viable for more than 3 years no matter what you do. Diesel does store well though, but it can't touch metal, and has to be pretreated and kept in a airtight container that's had its oxygen purged prior to sealing. Dropping a block of dry ice in the diesel and waiting until the hissing from the cap stops and then screwing it down tight does this well. Propane easily stores forever but it has a very low energy density and you need a HUGE expensive tank to store enough for 6 months of use.
Solar around here just isnt viable in the winter unless you have a very large array, and then you horribly overproduce in the summer. Selling it back to the grid does a bit to offset the cost, but it's pennies on the dollar spent.