but hopefully coming down considerably. Watch this youtube vide of Tony Seba https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2b3ttqYDwF0 (Stanford University futurist Tony Seba spent the last decades studying technological disruptions. He argues that the Electric Vehicle, battery storage, and solar power, along with autonomous vehicles, are a perfect example of a 10x exponential process which will wipe )

Yep! Mesh nets are great. Look up guifi.net, it's a large mesh net in Spain, for inspiration.

Solar panels are relatively cheap these days. Maybe you don't need battery backup.