The good news: My computer, stero, and VCR/TV all still run off 12 VDC.
The bad news: my telephone was not homepowered, and the lightning bolt
that hit the two foot trunk of a black oak 50 meters from my house and
exploded it into dozens of chunks of natural split firewood, would've
done the same to my other gizmos had there been a powerline to the
house to attract that hit instead.
But, I also got a couple of kilometers of fried phone wire; the post-
mortem shows that the cable housing was split from internal pressure
like an anurysm on my carotid artery to the net, every 10 - 20 paces
in some places, with a few stretches of good wire 50 paces long.
Of course, it wasn't a bolt out of the blue, so my modem was unhooked
when I heard the storm coming. Nevertheless, I've been offline for a
while. One of the businesses out on the highway lost 4 answering
machines in 15 months, and has given up on them... suggesting that a
hit on rural phone sytems or power lines [note the answering systems
sit on a junction between the two utilities] ain't all that uncommon.
Anyhow, if you are considering moving way out there, consider also the
danger that the utility power would bring with it.  Granted, they sell
a UPS that is supposed to protect a computer, which if you read the
fine print offers to replace some equipment, but which could not ever
value the software and data you may have, and offer protection of so
and so many Joules of current in so and so many milliseconds, as if
you or I knew what the hell that meant, or whether it was anywheres
near what might be required.
With homepower, the lightning would havta hit the solar panel.  And,
if you add the cost of adequate surge suppression needed to protect
your TV, stereo, Sattelite dish, computer etc... and add that cost to
the pole, linework, and meter installation costs... you may find that
you could install a PV system for that kind of money.
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