I am the contractor that furnished the contract the the customer for a solar project. The contract clearly states that there is a 3 day right to cancel. We provide a professional site survey for the project to see if the the residences roof and electrical is safe to install solar. We had a master electrician review site inspections to give us the clear to move forward with the next step. We hire a professional engineering firm to provide us, site plans, structural load calculations, and electrical calculations. All material was reviewed again by a master electrical and approved. We furnished the labor to apply for permits. We furnished the labor to apply for Interconnection with the utility company. We set up the logistics to drive material from the wholesale supplier to the residence, a 200 mile drive. The day of installation, the customer signed off on portion of the material from the supplier and did not allow us to place material on his property. We furnished the labor and rented the storage space to store the solar panels and all materials associated with the project in the city where the customer lives. The customer is refusing to cooperate with us thinking we will forget about the contract and project.
Your question is more complicated than meets the eye and, for that reason, you should explore the issue with a construction lawyer. So, let me give a little background about why this is not straightforward. I'm going to assume that you're the prime contractor for this project.
First, preconstruction services are not ordinarily lienable in California. That can be a thorny issue in and of itself. But, if you've actually furnished some labor as you say for the utility connections and if you brought the material to the property, that may satisfy the requirements for you to file a mechanics' lien.
Second, you hired some engineers which makes sense. They might be entitled to a design professionals lien on the property. Have they filed? Can they assign those rights to you?
Mechanics' and design professionals liens probably aren't your only options, either. You may also consider a breach of contract claim against the Owner. I'd be happy to talk you through it and I am confident that the other lawyers who provide their expertise on this site could too.