Extreme competition in the solar industry and falling prices has resulted in poor quality workmanship, electrical problems, roof leaks, gimmicks, and unethical behavior. Who can you trust to upgrade your most valuable asset, your home?
Book a FREE 15 minute appointment to: 1) Find out how Makello can help you. 2) Discuss your energy needs. 3) Get a FREE Energy Savings Estimate.
Makello aims to fix the broken solar industry with a full-disclosure report by an Ethical Energy Efficiency Expert, and documentation of the highest quality workmanship and components, to protect the budget and the home warranty.
Makello’s Mission is to tackle climate change by delivering clean energy solutions to improve social and environmental justice.
Why? Because Disadvantaged Communities, often located downstream and downwind of pollution, are extremely costly to rebuild after increasingly frequent weather disasters, and are impractical to relocate to escape sea level rise.
The Makello Team (left to right) Agustin, Ola, Linda, Charlie
Makello’s Vision is for you to join the Energy Ecosystem in a way that fits your life. We can help you use incentive programs to afford a Plug-In Vehicle and Solar Power to charge your car and your home, and we can help you create a back-up clean Energy Storage system for emergencies.
CEO and founder of Makello, Charlie Quux Johnson, receiving a North County Climate Change Alliance award at the NCCCA’s “EV Show Kicks Gas”
The choice is yours. Make your energy costs and emissions low with Makello, to get “On the Road to Energy Independence!”
Public access to EV Charging Stations is unevenly distributed. Makello’s mapping can show the inequity that may inhibit green technology adoption in some communities.
If you caIf you can’t find a conveniently located public EV Charger, then click on “Request A Public EV Charger” to suggest a location for future consideration, to be built with up to 100% Federal and State of California incentives.
Makello is developing GIS services and creating maps useful to the solar power, electric vehicle, and energy storage industries, as well as for our teaming companies, including several non-profit organizations. Maps are an important method for analyzing and presenting data.
We will examine redlining and clean-air technology access by the San Diego African American community in this blog. See the editor’s note below on how we will be using the Census Bureau term African American as defined by the Census Bureau: Race for Residents of African ancestry or birth including both US Citizens and non-US Citizens. For more info on data sources and terminology, references are provided at the end of this article.
Makello works with non profits and other agencies to create maps for Environmental Justice initiatives.
Editors Note: Click to view Makello’s commitment to finding words and methods to accurately represent data while conveying inclusion of the appropriate demographic.
Makello began using maps to analyze data and learn about our community in 2019. From time to time, we intend to share some of the maps we’ve developed but there are challenges to presenting the data accurately and transparently, especially with regards to designations for Race, Identity and Ethnicity.
The US Census counts all people living within the Boundaries of the United States and Territories. The data collected is by Race, not citizenship status. The Census data uses terminology that can easily be misunderstood because of common usage of terms vs. the Census Bureau definition. The Census Bureau meaning of the term is often lost as the data filters down to the public through agencies and businesses.
The Census Bureau uses the terms African American, Asian American, Native American, Hispanic, White and Other to define Race. Citizenship or immigration status is not counted. The loss of context of these words may prevent accurate and full understanding of data. People may feel invisible or may be unintentionally misled.
You may have noted a few potential difficulties in the short list of the terms presented. That is where the struggle lies when attempting to represent residents without being US-Centric or Ethno-centric. Acceptable terminology changes through time, is understood differently in separate regions and countries, by different cultures and ethnicities. Individuals infuse meaning in words based on their life experiences, making classifications difficult.
Maps may focus on a specific demographic for any number of reasons. It can be difficult to adequately portray diversity on the map with charts or graphs. Please refer to the two examples below.
Makello is committed to the difficult task of finding words and methods to accurately represent data while conveying inclusion of the appropriate demographic. We make great effort to research and vet language. Language and identities change. Unfortunately, there is no all encompassing, perfect language for describing people. What one person thinks is a great label and strongly identifies with, the next person may reject or find offensive. We accept open and honest feedback and hope you enjoy the information we present.
African Americans in San Diego are concentrated in southwestern San Diego County.
The first question to answer is where are the communities with 10% or more of the African American residents? A map of the demographic data from the CalEnviroscreen 3.0 is the simplest method of discovery. CalEnviroscreen obtained demographic data from the US Census Bureau and retained the US Census Bureau demographic descriptors in their report. Our map above shows the population is largely concentrated in the area to the east of Downtown San Diego which will be the area we focus on for the purpose of this blog.
Why is the population so heavily concentrated in this area? With a special thanks to University of Richmond’s Digital Scholarship Lab, a look at the 1930s New Deal Era Home Owners’ Loan Corporation Redline Maps may help to answer this question.
The Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (H.O.L.C.) was created during the Great Depression New Deal Era and the program trained many home appraisers in the 1930s. The H.O.L.C. created a neighborhood ranking system known today as redlining. Grades were assigned to residential neighborhoods by local real estate developers and appraisers in over 200 cities. These maps and neighborhood ratings set the rules for decades of real estate practices. The grades ranged from A to D.
The Green Area- Grade A = Best: Always upper-middle-class to upper class White neighborhoods defined as posing minimal risk for banks and other mortgage lenders, as they were “ethnically homogeneous” and had room to be further developed.
The Blue Area- Grade B= Still Desirable: Neighborhoods with all or mostly White, U.S. born residents were defined as sound investments for mortgage lenders.
The Yellow Area- Grade C =Declining: Residential neighborhoods with working class and/or first or second generation immigrants from Europe. The housing stock was typically older and often lacking the current utilities of the day.
The Red Area- Grade D= Hazardous: These neighborhoods were considered to be “infiltrated” with “undesirable populations” such as Jewish, Asian, Mexican, and Black families. The neighborhoods were more likely to be located near industrial areas and the housing stock consisted of older, less well maintained buildings.
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These grades formed the basis for federally backed mortgages. Many banks refused to lend to areas with the lowest grade, making it impossible for people in these neighborhoods to become homeowners and preventing them from building generational wealth.
As you can see from the map, many of the areas that were labeled undesirable in the 1930s are still the areas where African Americans are concentrated. The practice of redlining has had a long term impact on segments of our community that has yet to be resolved.
1930s redlining still impacts African American communities 90 years later.
Makello is an advocate of green transportation options, providing FREE Energy Savings Estimate services including an analysis of potential electric vehicles to fit your needs, so it was only natural we take a look access to public charging stations African Americans have in the former redlined areas. The results were………….. well, see for yourself.
Less than 10 public electric vehicle charging stations are located within the African American communities.
The data from the US Dept. of Energy Alternative Fuels Data Center may be mapped and compared to the CalEnviroscreen Demographic Data. The neighborhoods with the highest concentrations of African American Residents do not have easy access to public electric vehicle charging stations. One consequence is this discourages San Diegans with electric vehicles living outside these communities from driving to businesses in these neighborhoods and spending money. The lack of access to public charging stations also discourages the residents of these neighborhoods from purchasing electric vehicles because they don’t have the ability to conveniently charge their vehicle. This is especially true for multi-unit dwellers where there are structural and parking challenges to overcome when installing EV charging stations. This creates additional barriers to EV ownership, keeping the community from reducing pollution, developing business opportunities, and creating jobs in their neighborhoods.
Book an appointment to receive Makello’s Ethical Energy Savings Report, which is the result of a detailed trade-off study of discount utility rates, grants, rebates, tax credits, and equipment options, to determine the fastest payback and highest return on investment to meet your home, business and vehicle energy needs.
The fee for the Ethical Energy Savings Report is refundable (less the 3rd-Party $15 utility data access charge) or credited towards our installation services, after you attend the presentation meeting and complete a 5 minute survey after permission to operate.
Includes up to 5 hours research by the Makello team, and 1 hour Q&A, by Makello’s Ethical Energy Efficiency Expert.
We’re shifting gears now and will be examining the energy cost burden in the City of San Diego. The energy cost burden data was obtained from the 2019 San Diego Climate Equity Report and overlaid the demographic data from the CalEnviroscreen 3.0. Generally speaking, the energy cost burden was calculated as a weighted average for each census tract and divided by the median household income for each census tract to obtain the energy cost burden score. For more detailed explanation of the energy cost burden, please visit the San Diego Climate Equity Report page.
The white outlined areas in the map posted below have the lowest energy cost as a percentage of Median Household Income and the dark green areas have the highest energy cost burden. Most of the African American San Diegans are in the minty green areas and have an energy cost burden of 1.3%- 2.7%. There is one area with 18-28% of the African American residents and a 4-5.4% energy cost burden.
This cost puts an additional financial strain on those residents with more modest incomes and often prevents the residents from using air conditioning or heaters in bad weather, increasing some health risks especially for elderly and health challenged individuals. Or the residents may use older, less energy efficient equipment, increasing energy cost and pollution.
Energy cost impacting African American communities.
One potential solution for reducing the energy cost burden and pollution is solar energy and battery storage. We mapped solar adoption rates from the San Diego 2019 Climate Equity Index report and again, overlaid the demographic data from CalEnviroscreen 3.0. The areas outlined in white have the least access to solar energy. Many African Americans are living in areas where at best, there are per capita 0.05 solar photovoltaic systems resulting in these residents having a low ability to decrease pollution due to electricity production and consumption in the home, reducing overall energy cost, and protecting against power outages.
African American communities in San Diego have low access to solar energy systems.
Returning to redlining, banks’ historical unwillingness to loan money in these communities have left many residents underbanked and underserved. Solar Systems, Electric Vehicles, Battery Storage Systems are investments that can improve personal finances and the quality of life for anyone that can afford a purchase, or qualify for financing. Beyond traditional loans or leases, community members can use the State of California’s Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing for home upgrades and energy upgrades. PACE is not a loan and does not appear on an individual’s credit report. PACE funds are repaid on the annual property tax bill.
This concludes our discussion for now. Please stay tuned for additional articles where we take a look at other issues and demographic segments of San Diego Residents.
Makello is a program featured guest presenter and video educator for the community, speaking about EVs, discount utility rates, making money with energy storage, enhanced incentives for qualified individuals, charger types, public charging, home charging, grants, rebates, incentives and many clean air benefits.
Book a FREE 15 minute appointment to: 1) Find out how Makello can help you. 2) Discuss your energy needs. 3) Get a FREE Energy Savings Estimate.
On August 4, we premiered our Public EV charging demonstrations and interviews for the CSE‘s Clean Vehicle Rebate Project webinar series presentations, in cooperation with Groundwork San Diego. The videos are the first of an EV101 educational video series. Click on the images below to view the EV101 Public and Home Charging Videos.
EV101 Public Charging https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khHYpqB5WnQEV101 Home Charging https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJKqHfpXQ38
Filter for charger type (Level 2 J1772; Chademo, CCS, Tesla)
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EVgo charging station outside Northgate Market. Makello hosted a booth to educate the community about Plug-In Vehicle benefits and affordability at the grand opening of this charging station in July of 2019.
There’s certain things you need to know before you choose a public charger location.
Brand – Which EV Public Charger company to use?
Cost ($/kWh) – Membership or Subscription?
Distance / Location – Is it convenient for my commute or driving route?
Connector Type – Is it compatible with my vehicle?
Speed – Level 1, 2 or 3?
Availability – Is there a charger available at the desired time?
Range – Is it fast enough to charge the battery to a desired level, if it is time limited?
Brand
Search online to compare Public EV Charging companies in San Diego.
Cost
Public EV Charging companies may charge a membership fee, monthly subscription or a la carte cost/kWh. The end cost varies, but is usually between $0.25/kWh – $0.35/kWh, which is roughly $2.50-$3.50/gallon gas cost equivalent.
Distance / Location
Use the App to choose a Charger that is convenient for my driving and parking habits and destinations.
Book an appointment to receive Makello’s Ethical Energy Savings Report, which is the result of a detailed trade-off study of discount utility rates, grants, rebates, tax credits, and equipment options, to determine the fastest payback and highest return on investment to meet your home, business and vehicle energy needs.
The fee for the Ethical Energy Savings Report is refundable (less the 3rd-Party $15 utility data access charge) or credited towards our installation services, after you attend the presentation meeting and complete a 5 minute survey after permission to operate.
Includes up to 5 hours research by the Makello team, and 1 hour Q&A, by Makello’s Ethical Energy Efficiency Expert.
Connector Type
There are 4 Connector Types: Tesla, CHAdeMo, CCS Combo or J1772. Not every charging location supports all 4 of them. That’s why it’s important to compare charger locations beforehand – Is it compatible with my vehicle?
There are 4 Connector Types: Tesla, CHAdeMo, CCS Combo or J1772.
Speed – Level 1, 2 or 3.
Level 1 is the slowest AC charging and uses common household current, 120v, 3 prong outlet: 1.5kW (Up to 2kW). The purpose is overnight charging or for long parking duration.
Level 2 charges faster than level 1 and would be ideal for 4-5 hours spent at the mall (J1772 connector): AC Fast Charging (Up to 19kW) The purpose is overnight fast charging, convenience fast charging or for short-medium parking duration.
Level 3 is DC fast charging. Think about stopping to charge your vehicle on a long road trip while grabbing a 30 minute lunch. (CHAdeMO or CCS Combo): (Max power 400 kW) The purpose is fastest charging for the shortest duration.
Reservations / Availability
Use the App to see if a location that supports my vehicle’s connector type is available and reserve it!
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Range
The faster the charge speed, the longer the EV driving range.
Is it fast enough to charge the battery to a desired level, if it is time limited?
Public chargers are often time limited to 30 minutes – 60 minutes of charging. Just enough time to grab lunch at the mall!
Businesses like malls, movie theaters and casinos expect longer charging periods, so you can find locations to charge up from empty to full on Level 2 or Level 3.
If you can’t find a conveniently located public EV Charger, then “Request A Public EV Charger” – put a pin on the map to suggest a location for future consideration.
The value homeowners realize from having solar panels installed varies from state to state in the U.S. This value is most often measured as a solar payback or investment return. The solar payback period refers to the length of time it takes to realize enough electricity savings from a solar system to pay for the cost of installing it. The shorter the payback period, the greater the return on investment.
Book a FREE 15 minute appointment to: 1) Find out how Makello can help you. 2) Discuss your energy needs. 3) Get a FREE Energy Savings Estimate.
Any size solar array reduces the electric bill and provides access to discount utility rates. Makello’s Optimal Cost Savings determines the fastest payback and lowest upfront cost for the site characteristics and owner goals.
What is the typical payback period for residential solar installations in San Diego?
To determine a typical payback period and return on investment for a residential solar installation in San Diego two factors must be considered: 1) the cost of installing the solar panels; 2) the revenue earned by the solar system. The costs are typically easy to determine. A solar company will usually quote one fee that includes the cost of the solar panels and all approvals, permits and inspections for the authority of jurisdiction and SDG&E.
The revenue produced by a solar system is a function of the amount of energy it produces each year compared to what would have been paid to the utility if the same amount of energy had been purchased from the utility without the installation of solar panels.
Book an appointment to receive Makello’s Ethical Energy Savings Report, which is the result of a detailed trade-off study of discount utility rates, grants, rebates, tax credits, and equipment options, to determine the fastest payback and highest return on investment to meet your home, business and vehicle energy needs.
The fee for the Ethical Energy Savings Report is refundable (less the 3rd-Party $15 utility data access charge) or credited towards our installation services, after you attend the presentation meeting and complete a 5 minute survey after permission to operate.
Includes up to 5 hours research by the Makello team, and 1 hour Q&A, by Makello’s Ethical Energy Efficiency Expert.
Fundamentally, the amount of solar energy a residential PV system produces depends on weather conditions and climate. And most importantly, the amount of sunshine (the incident solar radiation or solar insolation in a given location). No surprises here that Southern California hits it out of the park on energy generation from solar panels. You can go weeks without seeing a cloud in San Diego. Electricity generation of up to 1,650 kWh per year per 1 kW of peak DC solar panels installed makes San Diego a very attractive location for solar panels.
Open air flow under carports can cool the modules and increase annual production. Beware of solar companies that tout extra short roof jacks and stylish tapered bumper edges that restrict airflow, causing overheating and reduced production.
Moving down to the bottom line, the financial incentives available for residential solar energy systems can make or break an investment decision. These vary widely across the US. In California, the most important incentives are the 26% federal solar tax credit and the NEM 2 net metering law passed by the California PUC. If we run numbers for a typical household, in San Diego, with a $250 per month SDG&E electric bill, through the “solar panels cost and savings calculator” we see the recent average cost of installed solar systems in San Diego and SDG&E electric rates, for all site location types, including clay tile, flat roof and ground mount systems that are more costly.
To what extent do high SDG&E electricity rates contribute to return on investment for solar users in San Diego?
San Diego topped a ranking of installed solar energy capacity and ranked second in installed solar energy capacity per capita in major US cities, according to a report from the California Environment Research & Policy Center. In so doing, San Diego surpassed Los Angeles, the previous first place holder, and trailed only Honolulu, Hawaii in the per capita ranking.
Let’s dig a little deeper and look at whether it’s actually worthwhile for a San Diego resident to invest in a solar PV system. To do so, we’ll make use of residential solar information resources of utility energy costs in major cities and metro areas across the country. To zoom in on the likely cost of actually having a residential PV system installed in San Diego, we’ll also make use of our tried and true, local guide to solar installation companies and residential solar cost calculator.
What we note from this is that SDG&E, the electric utility serving San Diego, has some of the highest electric rates in the nation. This, along with the exceptional amount of sunshine in Southern California, is why San Diego has the shortest payback times in the nation (and therefore the highest return on investment) for residential solar panels in California.
What incentives are available, in San Diego, to help with the cost of installing solar panels?
There are a variety of residential solar incentives available across the US. As the Solar Energy Industries Association explains: “Effective direct incentives can take a variety of forms depending on the particular situation and administrative abilities of a given state. Some states have chosen to offer tax credits, others to offer up-front rebates administered by state agencies or utilities, and still others offer performance-based incentives that are paid by an agency or utility over time based on kilowatt-hour production.”
Are you ready to save money on solar power, EV charging or Energy Storage? Get an instant quote from Makello!
Sorting through all these incentive programs, much less doing all the paperwork required to qualify for them, can be daunting. In all likelihood, you will be able to find and work with a solar finance/installation company that will assume much of the bureaucratic burden. Make it a point to include this on your checklist when shopping for the right provider.
For certain Low-Income qualified homes, it may be possible to have a solar system installed for free, through subsidies. Makello will tell you if you qualify, even if it means there is no sale opportunity. That is one of the ways we contribute to making solar accessible to everyone!
California continues to be a nationwide, and worldwide, leader when it comes to solar and “green” energy policies and programs. The most important incentive, by far, is the 26% federal solar tax credit and the NEM 2 net metering law that gives you almost full retail value for excess solar power exported into the grid during the day.
How much does San Diego’s high degree of sunshine contribute to the attractiveness of solar there?
Although we have touched on this topic, measuring the amount of solar energy a residential PV system is likely to generate over any given period of time is not as simple or straightforward as it might appear at first glance. It’s important to be sure you’re comparing apples to apples here.
By scientific convention, the amount of solar radiation available per unit area in a specific location is measured in kilowatt-hours per square foot per day, or for those more physics-minded, in megajoules per square meter per year. Other variables come into play, such as whether or not “direct” radiation, aka “direct-beam” radiation, or “diffuse” radiation is being measured. The former, as the term suggests, only measures the light that hits the earth’s surface directly, not any scattered or reflected sunlight. Diffuse radiation is a measurement of scattered sunlight while “albedo” radiation measures light reflected by the earth’s surface. As we have seen, 1 kW DC of solar panels installed in San Diego produces up to 1,650 kWh of energy per year. In comparison, many places in the north-east of America produce around 1,200 kWh per year. Using these numbers, San Diego produces up to 37% more power than the same panels would if they were installed in the north-east. This is a major contributor to making San Diego one of the most profitable cities in America for utilization of solar panels.
In San Diego, peak annual solar production is achieved by optimal orientation (180 degree south at 32.5 degree tilt), no near object and low horizon shading, with excellent air-flow underneath the modules and frequent module washing. Summer peak production is 17 degree tilt at 180 degrees south. Winter peak production is 47 degree tilt at 180 degrees south. If your south facing roof is shaded, Makello can install on the north roof with reverse tilt to the south. East tilt is 12% less than south and west facing tilt is 10% less than south.
