Hello fellow bloody-knucklers,

I finally got around to joining this "list" after reading about it in the last HP Magazine. I think there is great potential here for expanding the horizons of everyone involved, as well as for the business we are about: getting clean, renewable power sources out into the world.

Yes, I agree that introductions are appropriate. By the way, what the heck is a "Bob-O"?

Name: Don Wallingford

Company: Quicksilver Electrical Service (I stole the name fair and square from an old record album).

Company description: Licensed/insured electrical contractor in the state of Colorado. 8+ years in business. For the first seven years, regular electrical work: new construction, remodel, service work. Last year, about 60% renewables.

Position: HMFWIC. (Head MoFo What’s In Charge). ie: owner, project manager, foreman, electrician, head estimator, consultant, receptionist, head-of-maintenance, accounts-receivable, accounts-payable, janitor, etc.

Location: P.O. Box 766, Frederick, CO 80530, USA

E-mail: quicksilver@eagle-access.net

Age: 45. (Knees-62).

Comments: Currently have four part-time employees, two of whom are also master electricians. Have teamed up with Drake Chamberlin (Electrical Energy Contracting and Consulting) in the last year to see if we can do more cooperatively than we were doing before as competitors. It seems to be working out.

I got bitten by the RE bug in the early 80’s. I worked the California wind farms in the Altamont Pass and Palm Springs areas for about three years. I had never worked so hard and enjoyed it so much until then. I felt like I was finally making a difference in the world. When the tax credits expired, and my employers’ checks started bouncing, I had to move on. Got back into regular construction work in Colorado again. After a few years, I stumbled upon an opportunity to apprentice as an electrician, and decided that I liked the work, as well as the fact that it paid more than pouring concrete or pounding nails. "Fast-tracked" my way through the Colorado State Electrical Board’s program to a Journeyman’s License and then the Master’s License in about six years. In ’91, I started my own contracting business. After about a year of scraping by on my own, as well as working part-time for others, I’ve worked only for myself ever since.

I’ve been trying to get back into RE work ever since leaving California. I sent myself to several SEI (Solar Energy International) workshops in ’95 and’96, and have been beating the bushes for RE work ever since.

Last year, my stubbornness finally paid off, as we got to build 16 installations-all PV, plus one wind turbine generator. Eleven of those jobs were as subcontractor for Altair Energy, and were grid-tied &Y2K fear-related. But the others were jobs I had finally managed to grab on my own.

Lately, I’m trying to get some help with the business: my wife for administrative help, and Drake for design/estimating, as well as wire-twisting. Bob-O Schultz has been very helpful with getting through some learning curves the last couple of years. Thanks!

My wife Sarah, 17-year-old son Willy, and I live in the still small town of Frederick (pop. 1200+), a little ways north of Denver. We have utility power, but also a small PV system and currently non-working Air 303 installed.

End of Introduction.

 

I’d like to open up a discussion here among the Wrenches. I know it’s crazy, but I’ve got this idea that I can earn an actual living designing and building RE power systems. I even think that one can earn just as good a living doing RE, as opposed to wiring "starter castles" or McDonald’s stores. Part of the trick to it is, I think, for us to get paid for our time spent during the front end of these projects. I read Richard Perez’ article in HP#61, "What to Expect From Your RE Dealer", and I agree with most of his theory of how a sale should go. Where I disagree is, at what time money should start changing hands. Richard says that the contractor collects some money after the site survey, load calculations, and design work have been done. How many times have you spent countless hours with a potential customer-on the phone, at his site, running load analyses, building equipment lists, etc., etc., etc.,-only to have them flake out in the end, and decide (s)he can’t really afford to do this thing after all? I don’t think that this line of work can be done like regular contracting, with free estimates and designs. I think that, as we commit our time and energy to a potential customer, we need some commitment back from them ($), that they are indeed serious about their project. I have been experimenting lately with a pay-as-you-go method. I charge $100-$150 for an initial site visit. This is after spending time on the phone consulting and determining that this lead is a real customer. That amount of money is nowhere close to my regular rate for spending the better part of a day, but it is something for my time. During the site visit, we check out the resource, look over load estimates (if that hasn’t already been done), and come up with a general plan for siting equipment, array, batteries, etc. At that point, it is time to analyze loads, design a system that will power those loads, and come up with a real bid. It is also time to collect more money for all that work. How much? I think $300-$500. No doubt the loads will be reduced, and calculations run again, once the customer finds out how much it takes to power that 54-inch color TV; and it will take at least a couple of rounds to arrive at the final design and quote. All part of the fun, eh? If the customer decides to bail out after that, they’ve got a design, equipment list, and a one-line drawing to take to the PV Megalo- Mart if they want. But we’ve been paid for our time, at least at a reduced rate.

I really want to be fair to all parties involved. The customer needs to get what they pay for, but we need to be paid for our time as well. I don’t think it would be possible to charge engineers’s or architect’s rates for design work (someday, maybe), but, it would be good to earn journeymans’ rates at least. What do you think? How do you do this? Am I missing something here?

Don Wallingford

Quicksilver Electrical Service