As mentioned above, the biggest, quickest return on your investment is to heat water, either your pool, and/or your incoming cold water. It is generally accepted that water enters a house at about 6 degs, so any lift in that temperature you can achieve with cheap solar panels before it enters your fuelled hot water heater, is a saving.. Subscribe to Home Power Magazine it will give you a very US centric view of the current state of the art..
http://homepower.com/store/?page=item&pid=1
alinburnaby, which Vertical Axis Wind Turbine did you purchase? And, have you considered taking your Muni to court/appealing about their refusal. I know (or rather have heard) of folk taking stratas to court when they are not allowed to install solar panels on the outside of their units, and winning. In this day and age I suspect you would have a good chance of winning too.
I expect you've seen/know about it, but Jay Leno's Garage has a VWT and an interesting website at:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/jay-leno/green-garage/4216780