New to alt. energy, looking for advice.

Good for you on wanting to change up.

The best way to start out is to start small.  Think about this - a small portable (wheels) solar energy system.  It would be kind of a "demo" version of a bigger system.  I built mine from scratch - hand truck, wood box, 2 T125 batts, charge controller, desulphator, 2 inverters 400/1200W and a meter.  You can just buy an X1500 (check portable power) with batteries, inverter, meter and wheels.  Add a solar panel and charge control for a complete mini grid.  I would add another smaller (150-400W) inverter because the 1500W inverter is a little big (1/3 amp no load power draw) for 30 Watt fans and 10 Watt radios.

Since it is portable you can keep it in a corner of the yard and your dad won't have that shiny solar panel gleam in his eye.  You should use it for your electric needs (and wants) because when Peak Oil really hits then you will be the only one with power.  See if you can get your dad to help - it is kind of a science project after all.

Whats "Peak Oil"?  A condition where easy to get oil is used up leaving only expensive hard to get oil.  The harder it is to get the more it costs.  Eventually it costs more than you get back - costs of $160 for 1 barrel $130~ of oil would NOT be profitable.  Would you like a better explaination?  Type in "latoc" (life after the oil crash) in a web searcher.  This is not like Y2k which was an event (happens once) this is a chronic (continues, worsening) condition.

They are already hard to get and more expensive.  In 2003 I was caught up in the August 14 power outage.  A little while after that I bought solar panels for under $3.10 a Watt.  Look at prices now $5 - $7 a Watt.  Silicon is also in big demand by panel makers - who used to just take the silicon leftovers off of chip maker's hands.  Chip maker's now sell each barrel for more than $100 (US dollars) and they mostly don't have extra (purified silicon) any more.

But solar panels are solid state and will last longer then a wind turbine.  There are no parts to replace, they are quiet and can be scaled from "one panel/one battery" to utility sized "farms".

If you do add wind in some time in the future - don't put it on the house, the vibration will make you feel like your inside a transformer.