To turn solar power into a reliable source of AC power off-grid you need an electricity storage system that will easily cost more than the PV installation itself. Micro-hydro, if available, provides a very high capacity factor output without the need for an inverter / PCS / battery.
If you have space for a pond but no reliable flowing stream, you can use the pond as the battery for your solar panels. Each kWh of storage in a 2m deep pond will take about 100 m^2 of area. A typical American house would use 6 kWh or so per night, but probably someone building a system like this would use less.
I don't have enough flat space for that. I do have a large mountain, but there's no room for ponds on that - more's the pity, no streams nearby either.
