Kinetic would be a good choice for a primary that functions great both in team and solo (though it's so wonderful in teams that you will always be looking for one!). As for the secondary, Sonic is good for the -dam of its attacks, a nice single-target disorient and AoE Sleep that can help you put foes into position for Fulcrum Shift and subsequently pwn them.
I think electric might be good too thanks to the end drain, but I never played the set so it's difficult to say. Rad Blast would be another great choice though.
For primary I would go Storm, Dark or Rad.
Kin is a bit.. 'meh' solo to be honest. Even at higher level it's just a bit.. I don't know.. dull. The buffs are really short and it's a pita to spam siphon speed, siphon power, transfusion (the heal in particular, as fast as you can fire it off, because you're taking massive damage from most of the mobs, compared to other debuff sets) and then transference because those buffs and heals just cost you most of your endurance bar.... and then it's time to do them again and you're wondering when you actually get a chance to blast things and make use of those buffs. Kin is nice on paper solo but not in practice. It's great in groups but equally busy and can get repetitive fast. You don't get to use fulcrum to its full extent solo because it needs loads of mobs to be really nice and with no ther debuffs, you faceplant against decent sized gangs. Maybe if you paired it with sonic for siren's song, or got mass hypnosis in the 40s. I still think it's a horrible solo set though.... and in teams people screaming for speed boost will drive you nuts long before you get to be excited about fulcrum shift.
Anyway... after that rant! Storm, Dark or Rad are all great solo and in teams. Personally I would recommend Storm primary and Dark secondary. You get so many tricks for different situations. Dark is definately the best synergy with Storm, which is definately the most fun power set in the game. And it's all about fun at the end of the day. 
The first defender I made was a Storm/Dark but I deleted it after getting to lvl 3 because I dident like the feel of Dark secondary (Throwing giant dustbunnies at enemies..)
Anyway I made a second Defender that has Dark/Sonic. The Sonic seems to be nice attacks that also lowers the enemies defence alittle and works well for soloing while the Dark primary gives a heal and thats always good and it seems to have a few good skills for later levels too
Don't neglect juicy dark debuffs! Talking about Darkest Night and Tar Patch. Fearsome stare of course is just wonderful. 
My fave toon is a storm/elec if you have never played a stormie before i cant recommend it enough, coupled with the end drain of elec makes a very good combo.
Dark/Sonic is a nice combination. Tar Patch does -res debuffs as well so ties nicely with the sonic secondary. Also you get three powers for making sure they don't go anywhere - Tar Patch, Siren's Song and Fearsome Stare (best power in the game IMHO). Which then means that you can lay down Darkest Night and leave them whiffing at nothing. 
@Dante EU - Union Roleplayer and Altisis Victim
The Militia: Union RP Supergroup - www.themilitia.org.uk
Sonic secondary is very good from a soloing point of view. Kin/Sonic, Rad/Sonic or Dark/Sonic (probably not in that order) would all work well.
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For primary I would go Storm, Dark or Rad.
Kin is a bit.. 'meh' solo to be honest. Even at higher level it's just a bit.. I don't know.. dull. The buffs are really short and it's a pita to spam siphon speed, siphon power, transfusion (the heal in particular, as fast as you can fire it off, because you're taking massive damage from most of the mobs, compared to other debuff sets) and then transference because those buffs and heals just cost you most of your endurance bar.... and then it's time to do them again and you're wondering when you actually get a chance to blast things and make use of those buffs. Kin is nice on paper solo but not in practice. It's great in groups but equally busy and can get repetitive fast. You don't get to use fulcrum to its full extent solo because it needs loads of mobs to be really nice and with no ther debuffs, you faceplant against decent sized gangs. Maybe if you paired it with sonic for siren's song, or got mass hypnosis in the 40s. I still think it's a horrible solo set though.... and in teams people screaming for speed boost will drive you nuts long before you get to be excited about fulcrum shift.
Anyway... after that rant! Storm, Dark or Rad are all great solo and in teams. Personally I would recommend Storm primary and Dark secondary. You get so many tricks for different situations. Dark is definately the best synergy with Storm, which is definately the most fun power set in the game. And it's all about fun at the end of the day.
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honestly, I LOVE the fact that kin is so busy, you always have to be clicking something 
, and I love a bit of soloing with my kin/sonic (albeit I admit it is a late bloomer as far as soloing goes). I guess it depends on play style more than anything
I'd honestly go dark/sonic, good for both soloing and teaming, and the -res debuffs from your sonic attacks will stack with the -res from tar patch, plus the acc debuffs of dark are always great.
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Sonic secondary is very good from a soloing point of view. Kin/Sonic, Rad/Sonic or Dark/Sonic (probably not in that order) would all work well.
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thePhilosopher Martial Arts/Regen/Fire Scrapper
theRegulator Empathy/Energy/Soul Defender
Total Inertia Ice Blast/Kinetics/Psy Corruptor
Total Inferno Ice Blast/Thermal/Leviathan Corruptor
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I'd honestly go dark/sonic, good for both soloing and teaming, and the -res debuffs from your sonic attacks will stack with the -res from tar patch, plus the acc debuffs of dark are always great.
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To be honest, if you are a defender you are always going to do better in a team and fine solo relatively painful.
Having said that, Kin/Sonic, Rad/Sonic, and Dark/Sonic are probably the least worst options. The trick with solo defending is to compensate for your lack of damage, and these three do the job best with -resist debuffs and +damage/recharge powers for Kin (and a little for rad).
Trick Archery is another strong contender for primary, with two -resist powers, and the extrodinarily good oil slick arrow at level 26 (massive damage).
Storm has a -resist power and some damage powers, so does have some attractions.
Sonic has (solo) one -resist power so is not *awful*, plus has mez resistance and gives you a little protection.
Forcefeild and Empathy does diddly squat for your damage output, so things will be very slow. Avoid.
As for primary, you will probably eke most damage out of /sonic, with its -resist debuffs. It has a lot of ST (Single target) attacks which are good for solo.
Psionic is either fairly good (as most things dont resist psionic) or abolutely awful (because when they do resist, they tend to resist big time), but may be an option if you choose your enemies / missions carefully.
But, really, my main comment is - dont aim to solo. If you cant get on a team with a defender your best bet is to play an alt.
Just started a Kin/Rad Defender and I have to admit, I'm giggling!
The Rad Blast secondary seems to have a very low end cost at the lower levels, as well as a really fast recharge, so I'm running about spamming attacks feeling like a blaster!
The Kinetic additions of buffing my damage/debuffing the enemies, and adding a little heal is also great.
I'm not into the numbers, but for simple fun value as your first Defender, I'd give it a go. Kin/Rad. Can't comment how it grows over the levels though.
Formerly @Crimson Archer, now @CA
The Militia - Protecting Paragon City through roleplaying since June 2006!
Dark/Sonic solos very well alright. You can build up some horrible -resistance on an enemy and you get the 3 main attacks very quickly. No decent AOE Attacks though, Howl ain't the best. You miss a bit pre SOs though (no -Defense and slots are precious early on). Pretty safe though, great debuffs and decent control via Fearsome Stare, the hold thingy and even Howling Twilight (which stacks with Sonics stun too). Plus a pet at 32!!
Kin/Rad is a nice team combo with all those AOE -Defense powers of Rad working well with the To-Hit debuffs & heals of Kinetics.
Kinetics is alright solo actually, it's just once you've experienced a team with Kinetics, especially when you start getting the buffs then Speed boost you just want to team all the time.
Defiant 50's
Many and varied!
@Miss Chief
I'd probably go Dark/Psi or Dark/Sonic for if it was solo and team and Dark/Elec or Dark/Rad for pure teams.
"Well, they found my diary today.
They were appropriately appalled
at the discovery of the eight victims
They're now putting it all together.
Women wrapped in silk
with one leg missing
Eight legs, one body, silk,
spider, brilliant!"
I think Kin is busy in a bad way. You can build any defender to be clicking one power after the next back to back and staying busy. In fact I'd say that if people aren't doing that then they aren't being the best they can.
However, I felt that with Kin I was having to refresh the same stuff over and over repeatedly in order to keep the team buffed at that same level. Kin was 'bad' busy not 'good' busy. Trick arrow was similar. By the time you have used all your debuffs then you have to refresh them all again. You waste so much time recycling your primary powerset that you end up playing half a character.
Each to their own though. I'm sure loads of people love playing Kin. But any set can be busy, just take more secondary powers if you find yourself standing around not being busy on a defender.
Playing Kin drives me insane, I hate it. I liked TA though, which was almost as busy, but not quite IMO.
I wouldn't recomend TA as a first defender though
"Well, they found my diary today.
They were appropriately appalled
at the discovery of the eight victims
They're now putting it all together.
Women wrapped in silk
with one leg missing
Eight legs, one body, silk,
spider, brilliant!"
Earlier today I was looking over my characters and realized that the only character types I'v never tried where Defender and Tanker so I desided to make a Defender. Only problem is, I have no idea what power sets I should chose..
I want to work well both in a group and alone (For when I dont get a group or just wanna do a few small missions alone) so I was hoping someone could give me a few tips on primary and secondary power sets. Currently thinking of maybe Storm/something..