If you’re looking to set up solar panels, solar heating, or wind power in your home and are wondering where to look, there’s a website that contains detailed listings of companies. It allows you to find suppliers that are closest to where you live.
http://www.solarbuzz.com/solarindex/expo.htm
In addition to solar, some of the companies will provide other renewables as well, such as residential scale wind turbines.
Solar panels can produce power anywhere, but for wind power it can be less obvious what areas are suitable. Areas that have less than an average annual wind speed of 5 m/s (11 mph or 18 km/h) are considered unsuitable for wind power generation. Online weather information for your area should contain average wind speed on a day-to-day basis. However, the best wind speed data is based on average annual measurements, so see if you can find that.
You can also buy an anemometer and mount that where you want to install a wind turbine. Anemometers measure wind speed directly and can be used to calculate averages over a period of time. You can buy it at Home Depot, as part of a Complete Weather Station, for around $200. There’s also other less expensive stand-alone versions which can be ordered online, such as at http://www.inspeed.com/anemometers/.
Keep in mind that solar panels are going to be a lot more expensive than wind turbines, relative to power output. A few hundred Watts of solar panels will cost several thousand dollars. It depends on what you want. If you want steady reliable power, solar panels are your best option. But if you want more bang for your buck then wind power is your best option. However, you would have to be located in a wind-rich area.
And if you do decide to buy, be sure to ask if there are government incentives (rebates) which can offset some of the installation cost.