And note that even with a connection fee of zero, his autonomous setup would start to pay for itself after four years, due to no longer having to pay power bill

And note that even with a connection fee of zero, his autonomous setup would start to pay for itself after four years, due to no longer having to pay power bill of $400-$500 a month. Thats assuming zero maintenance costs so not quite correct, but it can't be too far off. It really is a no-brainer.