The first place I would look for honest information would be Flagstaff Solar Panel and Battery Store.

The efficiency of solar cells is increasing, but so is their cost. They are not the answer to the world energy problems. See my write up about future energy problems that nobody wants to talk about.

West Marine, Is where I bought my Siemens 75 Watt Solar panel (SP75). And a ProSine 1000 (1000 Watt, true Sine Wave) 12 Volt DC to 120 Volt AC inverter, and a TRUE Charge 20 AMP battery charger made by StatPower. Unfortunately, StatPower has been bought out. My TRUE Charge has quit working in "float" mode; and attempts to reach StatPower by e-mail got no response. I no longer recommend them.

A solar powered pump or fountain sounds like a fun thing to play with. Check out: Solar Water pumps. Or, it might be fun to make a simple Solar oven.

The Department of Energy has a lots of publications, and links. But, there is so much that I recommend stopping the transfer [Esc key will do it] and then clicking on "Text Only".

The Energy Guy has a lot of Products and Services links. His pages are big.
A man in LaVerkin Utah, Mr. Solar has more information about Solar Energy products.