Again, it's not sufficient for peoples' low density homes to be self sufficient to get rid of the electricity grid. You need decentralized power for the entire economy, which is a pipe dream in most places.

I've been to countries that are forced to do that due to incompetence, lack of investment, or in the case of Ukraine , a genocidal invasion. They use a hell of a lot of expensive diesel generators.

E.g. even though South Africa is very sunny,

businesses in the wealthy, white areas supplement their solar panels with diesel generators.

Finally, paying more for the grid than the electricity itself isn't a bad thing. It just means that the market price of power is cheaper than actually distributing it. Lots of commodities are like that: the majority of the cost of gravel, sand, concrete, water, etc. is often transport and distribution.