What to do? [RE-wrenches]

[Chuck Heath, SunPower]

Hello fellow Wrenches - Seriously, what do you tell an eccentric 60-year 
old multi-millionaire who wants a grid tied system but doesn't want the 
solar modules to "interfere" with the undetermined general landscaping 
plan? He and his wife are building their retirement home here in N. 
California.

Advice from his friendly general contractor of many years: tell him you 
are a specialist, and will work as a consultant, with a written contract 
at at least $85/hr. and a $1,000 retainer.
The Gen'l Contractor suggests he'll spend hours with me discussing before 
deciding anything. 

This potential clients' biggest concern is that solar modules are "ugly", 
so he wants to hide them as much as possible. He's thinking of having us 
put them _flat_ on a 150 ft. curved wall running roughly N-S, rather than 
any conventional top of pole or A-frame mounts ("they're ugly too"). He 
wants a graphic drawing of how it might look first.

He wants us to coordinate with his Landscape Architect on the final 
design for this grid tie system using the California Buydown program. He 
could care less about efficiency. He's already paid big $$ for 3/4 mile 
of _underground_ PG&E primary (12 KV), and seems to want 5 kW of PV as 
"window dressing" so he can brag about being a "a great steward of the 
land" while reducing his PG&E bill.

Finding out what he likes and is acceptable will take many hours, let 
alone developing a specific proposal.

This is a rare opportunity for us, and we don't want to lose it. How 
would you handle it?

Cordially, Chuck (what a dilemma!)

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