Solving power outages

Last year, a power outage struck the entire country of Nicaragua and I had to go to the bank. So, I decided to call the bank to see if they were open on generator power. Conversation:

Me: Hey, are you open?
Bank: Of course. Why wouldn't we be?
Me: Well, the power is out in the entire country.
Bank: Oh, I didn't know that.
Me: So are you running on generator power?
Bank: Must be, I don't really know. 

I'm fortunate enough to have a backup generator, as are most banks, hospitals and major businesses. I was still struck by the fact that the bank tellers didn't even know that there was a nationwide power outage or that they were running on generator power right at that moment.

The poor and businesses without much capital just have to suffer through the constant power outages. They certainly know when the power is off for hours at a time.

There are two ways to solve this problem. The first is to build a better national power system including generators and grids. It's a big investment that requires national political will. It would help productivity nationally and reduce costs lost to power outages and gas-fuel generators.

Alternatively, we can wait for generator and battery technology to drop in price and move more towards solar and other renewables so that far more people can afford backup power when the national grid goes offline. This is a decentralized solution that doesn't require the same big political effort and would produce a more resilient system.

I'm not sure which solution is better. Both come with benefits and drawbacks.