@KrystaElyse – of course. When I use the term “living off the grid”, I still mean I will be connected to the rest of the world, even through my power lines. It’s very expensive and difficult currently, but not impossible, to have a 100% self sufficient electrical system. Most people who have solar panels keep their home attached to the grid, and any electricity generated that cannot be stored in the batteries (such as if they’re full) would otherwise be discarded, so you can instead set it up to sell the electricity back to the electric company. Staying connected to the grid also has the security of electricity when a solar array would not work efficiently and would not be able to provide all of your power, such as a cloudy day, or if something happens and the array breaks.
The Internet is a totally different beast. I mean, you can’t really go about being your own ISP (yet), you can’t generate an Internet at your house (well, technically you can, but you’d have to film and upload every YouTube video, write every Top 10 list, etc, effectively you’d be creating and consuming your own private internet, not the same internet the rest of the world knows and loves/hates). So long as you have a phone or cable line coming in to the house, or feel like paying for satellite internet, you can have internet access in an “off the grid” house. Even if you live way out in the middle of nowhere, you should still be able to access dial-up internet. It would certainly be a different experience, but then again so is the entire experience of living off the grid and supporting yourself with your own two hands.