Personally I would not waste my money on solar panels. They have a limited life time of 10 to 12 yrs. For the $$cost$$ of getting solar I don't think they would pay for themselves compared to the life span to have to replace. Don't believe those bullshit commercials you see on t.v. Their are news reports that state these panels do not produce the power those companies claim.
I do not think windmills are not very pretty but if you live in an area that can take advantage of them then try it out! There's a home off the freeway near me and they use windmills. These are not the type that have those gigantic blades, they are long and tubular shaped with the blades being vertically positioned within these tubes.
My wife and I have been looking at solar for a few years now, and while the panels are not as efficient as they should be, they have improved some over the years. But the price has skyrocketed as well. Had a company (Freedom Forever Solar) come in for a consult a few weeks ago and the "best they could do" for our house (39 panels, Tesla power wall, and associated hardware) was 75K. So thanks, but no thanks. When we move into our retirement place, then I might think about it.
This is why I'm not going through a company like that, same for the windmill, and why I said I was looking for another option than the Tesla Powerwall but I want something like it. The Powerwall alone is 30k if you order it from Tesla. Something like a sonnenCore+ 10KWh battery is less than 10k and doesn't use cobalt like Tesla and others. The high cost is just installation, so have to figure out a different plan and that's been my hold up.
As to the panels themselves, they are under specced, overpriced, and hiked tremendously to take advantage of tards jumping on the bandwagon. They will toss you a huge 40, 50, 75k package with the intention you slap it on your mortgage saying "You save this in electric every month so you immediately start seeing savings". Bullshit. A Silfab Solar setup in total will cost you around 50k with their cheapest panels, but their 370W panels only cost $400 a piece. 8 of these would cover the typical square footage of an addition I plan to build with a grand total of 3,200. Even if we added their inverter tech you're still paying 40k over list. These companies are making a killing on this because people are too ignorant to understand the costs and ROI.
Since they make 400W panels, let's say after efficiency they only produce 2000W, after the windmill I'm at 10k cost for 12KW average output. My peak bill is based off of July's usage, where I used 4,000W per day so I'm 3x average usage to more than cover efficiency loss. Where we want to move to the average cost is 16c/KWh without PCRF markup and it's always breezy. Theoretically I should be banking in payout. We could even go with a lower efficiency for the windmill output (I calculate 5mph breezes based on the area with gusts in the 10-15 range without storms). Based on annual output per mean average airspeed, I'd be doing 2,375KWh per month est which is 85% my average summer usage alone, then add solar to it. You just have to be smart about it and not lazy expecting any company or installer to have your best interests in mind.
Edit: I should also say that 4,000W per day was on a $600 bill before I closed my downstairs vents eliminating my AC being on 24/7. So I'm over calculating to cover efficiency in terms of house size, insulation efficiency in new place, added wattage from the over gulping of new computer parts, well pump, electric heat, etc.
