In an outage, people understand if there are loud generators going. The worst that will happen is that they may ask to borrow some refrigerator space. The real problem is that a small generator is always going to be a manual switchover - a 10 minute process if the generator is kept in a proper working location (i.e., not in the garage - you can't run the generator in the garage) but problematic if you have to do it in bad weather. But a whole-house generator is big and expensive, so not something you'll want to do as a short-term fix.

After shopping around a bit, I got a generator that can do ~3kW (that's the usable power, forget what exactly they call it) for about $300. It's the size of a small suitcase and the noise is not that bad (if it helps, "inverters" are generators with lower noise). I mean, you're not writing your thesis on medieval poetry sitting next to it, but most of my power tools are louder. As manassehkatz‭ says, I think that in this situation the neighbors can deal with the noise. Earplugs are $2 at the convenience store.

As I understand it, batteries are an expensive part of a solar setup, so I'd expect them to be multiple orders of magnitude more expensive. I suspect some solar installers probably offer package deals, and you might miss out on those by buying them separately. So perhaps the generator is worth considering after all?

YMMV. But 3kW is probably not enough for most people for a partial-house generator. The trick is handling the large loads when you need them. Just refrigerator, computers, etc. will be fine. Once you add almost any level of HVAC, 3kW is going to be a problem. If you don't have gas as an option for cooking then almost any small appliance (forget full-sized ovens) will use ~ 1500W for a short time (toaster, microwave oven, etc.) Personally, I found a good deal on a 7.5kW generator and I am reasonably confident that can run everything I need at once except dryer or oven. The big cost is connecting it properly - in my case it was (past) time for a panel replacement and built it into that (interlock) but there are a lot of variables involved. Another thing to consider is 120V/240V. A 3kW might be 120V only - if so it can only power 1/2 the panel (normally) which can complicate things. Larger generators typically include a 240V connection.