Green Energy EPC - Makello Blog

February 28, 2019April 2, 2024

In Love with a Countryman

To tell my grandparents that I’ve fallen in love with a countryman, might send them into a panic. Today, spending time with a countryman is more desirable than ever before, because of the cute and cuddly Plug-In MINI Cooper S E Countryman All4.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1l8W-iIkRo&list=PLrHVPFynJo11MwBGAPPcDJaNk8kVrCSsv

Many people think, being a MINI, the Countryman would have to be small. That’s not true at all. It’s designed to accommodate a driver that is 6’3” tall. With a dimension of 169.8 in x 71.7 in x 61.4 in, the Countryman looks like a giant next to the original Austin Mini. It sits 5 people comfortably and still has 17.2 ft3 of cargo space. Unlike the two-door MINI Cooper S, the Countryman is practical and works well as a family car.

The Countryman’s exterior inherits MINI’s tradition of an abundant selection of customizations. You can pick multiple selections of rich colors, for the body, trim, mirrors and racing stripes. You can add sporty black wheel rims, and my personal favorite — the irresistible union jack mirror caps! When you finish customizing your car, it feels almost as if you completed a piece of artwork. When the Countryman is delivered, the art comes alive.

My personalized Plug-In MINI Cooper SE Countryman All4

The excitement doesn’t stop when you get inside. Just like any MINI, it is almost impossible to find a right angle in the interior design of the Countryman, everything you can see is round and curvy. Grabbing onto the steering wheel, flicking the toggles on the dashboard, stepping on the floor-mounted accelerator pedal, even turning the AC knob, makes you realize the Countryman is exquisite and refined. You can also tell some serious thought went into the designing the Countryman from the beautiful circular LED light ring on the dashboard displaying both battery status and AC setting, the secret storage space on the door panel and the fashionable design of charging port plus another LED light ring displaying charging status. The Countryman as a car then, is the opposite of a countryman.

However, don’t think for a second, that since the Countryman only has a three cylinder engine, it is all hat and no cattle. Because you know what else has a 3-cylinder engine?

The 3-cylinder, fast and beautiful BMW i8!

Taking a leaf out of the Halo Plug-In Vehicle in the BMW Group, the Countryman has a 134 hp gas engine driving its front wheels and a 65 kW electric motor driving the ones in the back, giving it a total of 221 hp and 284 ft-lbs [1]. The hybrid powertrain results in a 0-60 mph time of 6.8 seconds, making this compact SUV as fast as some hot hatchbacks, and certainly a lot livelier than the Plug-In Hybrids in the same price range.

More importantly, the powertrain gives the Countryman an intelligent all-wheel drive system that saves the day when you need it and saves fuel when you don’t by letting you choose different driving modes [2]: In the default AUTO eDRIVE, the Countryman is AWD while balancing output between the electric motor and the ICE for max efficiency. You don’t get four-wheel drive in a battery EV until you choose the expensive dual-motor version, which is not even available for many EVs.

For a short commute, you can select MAX eDRIVE, and the 7.6 kWh battery allows you to experience driving a RWD fully electric car up to 77 mph, rated for up to 24 miles. In the real world, you might expect 18 miles of quiet fully electric driving. A federal tax credit of up to $4,000 will pay for a lifetime of EV charging on the go, too!

If you are nowhere near a charging station and you want the benefit of reserving the EV boost for the mountain uphill, you can choose SAVE mode and run on the gas engine alone. Otherwise, for blended driving with gas and electric combined horsepower, you can use “AUTO” mode. When you are ready to unleash your inner child and have some fun, you can press the accelerator pedal and immediately, the electric motor is summoned to give you a sensational eboost. For an over-the-top thrill, switch to Sport Mode and leave the muscle cars at the starting line with instant EV torque. Regenerative braking captures the energy from braking and recharges the battery for more EV driving at the bottom of the mountain.

Get Makello’s Ethical Energy Savings Report

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.

In any case, with enough juice in the battery, the all-wheel-drive system will always keep you safe and in control, may it be from hydroplaning on an icy road, pothole on a poorly-built road, or even some mild off-roading on a trail. [3]

For people with doubts toward fully electric cars and range anxiety, the MINI Cooper SE Countryman All4 is an ideal first step to take. It joins fuel efficiency and driving pleasure in perfect harmony by focusing more on the benefits (fuel economy, extra boost, and intelligent all-wheel-drive) rather than the disadvantages (range, weight) of an EV. The Countryman gives you a taste of what the world is like in an electric car (which is great, seeing how passionate EV owners are about their cars) while the Plug-In Hybrid setup acts as a safety net in case you get cold feet on the commitment to an EV owner’s lifestyle.

When you drive a MINI Cooper SE Countryman All4, it appeals to the innocent child in your heart that you once were and deep down, still want to be, by encouraging you to enjoy life through driving, even where the road is wet and muddy. When you get behind the steering wheel, you can almost hear every component of the Countryman joining together in a chorus, singing “Go have some fun! Do it! Be passionate about your life! Go for it!”

So yes, I have fallen incurably in love with a Countryman, for it brings happiness to my life without asking me to compromise. Except the part that I have to explain to my grandparents that I am still single, of course.

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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.

Would you also fall in love with a Countryman? You never know until you meet one. Join us at the Green Energy EPC booth on the 34th Spring Home and Garden Show this weekend!

Del Mar Fairgrounds Spring Home and Garden Show

Makello and Green Energy EPC Spring Home and Garden Show

Reference:
1. https://www.miniusa.com/model/countryman/specs.html
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrX8WBRA3pI
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyFxPHPpn8c

December 10, 2018September 24, 2024

How the Competition Cuts Corners

Makello protects your home from potential roof leaks.

Below are 4 topics to teach you how unethical solar installers can cut-corners where the homeowner and the permit inspector won’t see it, in order to lower the bid price.

Poor quality installation techniques can only save money in the short term. Eventually, the home repairs for potential water leak damage will outweigh any cost savings.

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Topic 1) Waterproofing – “Lag bolts in the center of rafters”.
For a cement tile roof, our process takes 1 installation team 2 days to complete and the competition does 2 installs per day with 1 team.

If we have access to the attic and the height of the attic ceiling is more than 36” tall, then we will install the lag bolts from the inside the attic. That way we know that each lag bolt is securely fixed in the center of the rafter, and did not miss the rafter or split out the side. Our installation is durable to last a lifetime to protect the home and solar PV system from damage.

Other companies install lag bolts from the top of the roof; they do a hammer test on the roof to find a rafter, or they look at the eaves to see one end of the rafter, then they write marks on the roof, chalk a line and drill every 24” or 18” on center, hoping that they hit most of the rafters. Even if an installer does hit a rafter, how will they know if they split the side of the rafter, which would compromise the structural integrity of the entire roof and cause it to sag over time? Or if they miss the rafter, then the 3.5” lagbolt will be sticking 3” out of the plywood; it might feel solid, but then when the wind comes it will shake the solar array and move the lag bolt up and down, widening the lag bolt hole and break the sealant caulking compound, eventually causing a drip leak, wood rot and termite problems, or worse, if a strong wind comes it could pull the entire solar array off of the roof!

Topic 2) Waterproofing – “Sealant properly applied and cured”
If the industry top rated waterproofing sealant is misapplied or if the installer does not allow adequate time to cure before installing the solar PV arrays, you can expect water leak problems in the future.

Our exclusive solar panel installer, Green Energy EPC does the job right. After we install the lag bolts in the center of the rafters, we add the standoffs, flashing and sealant. The sealant requires 24 hours to cure properly if the weather is cool or moist. On dry and hot days it can cure faster, but at the least, it should take 4 or 5 hours minimum to form a continuous bond seal between the rafter & lag bolt, lag bolt & flashing, flashing and tar-paper. Green Energy EPC applies the M1 sealant properly in the required locations, and goes even beyond what is required, by placing 2 beads of sealant in a “n” or upside-down “U” shape on the flashing above the standoff, higher up on the roof, so that even if water is running towards where the flashing and standoff meet, it will be diverted away from the area by the “n” and around the area for many years to come. After the sealant is applied, we leave the area for several hours to 24 hours, to allow the sealant proper time to cure before adding the rails and modules. The care and process takes extra time, and an extra day to roll the truck and bring back the crew, but it is worth it. We sleep well on rainy nights knowing the solar roof integration will be water safe.

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Other companies are in a big hurry, with 1 team doing 2 installs in 1 day. They routinely skip the sealant application or misapply the sealant so that it does not form a continuous bond. They do not allow the sealant proper time to cure; they add the rails and modules, tighten the nuts, balance the array, tighten the nuts some more, move modules around and rebalance to make it square – all this activity is breaking the sealant bond that has not cured, introducing gaps which act as a channel for the water to drip inside the structure, eventually rotting the wood and tar paper, inviting termites to cause more damage.

Topic 3) Warranty: The condition of the roof, underlayment and supporting structure should be of sufficient condition to outlast the 25 year solar panels warranty.

A solar panel system installed securely and properly will last 25 – 30 years or longer. If the condition of the roof, under-layment and supporting structure is questionable or poor at the time of installation, the roof might need to be replaced during the solar panel 25 year warranty period.

Many solar companies and salespeople are willing to take the sale and cash the check, knowing that that condition of the site is insufficient to maintain the home waterproofing, and by the time the roof has a leak, they will be long gone.

Green Energy EPC inspects the condition of the roof and is honest with the owner about the longevity and expectations. We will not install solar panels on a poor quality roof, if the tiles are worn through, or if the tar paper is torn, aged or missing. Honesty and integrity is at the core of our quality installation. We would rather walk away from a deal to avoid potential problems and risks. It is the ethical way of doing business. Sam Syed, President of Green Energy EPC teaches the ethics of solar panel installation and solar panel sales at our NABCEP accredited classes at Mira Costa College and at Cuyamaca College.

Topic 4) Waterproofing – “Flashing requires careful shimming of the tiles in the row above”.

When installing roof flashing, it is imperative to take your time and not be in a hurry. The proper way to insert a flashing is to use pry bars to carefully lift up the shingles higher on the roof, above the place where the flashing will be installed. Each shingle or tile section is held to the roof by nails that penetrate the tar paper and plywood. If a tile is moved too quickly, the nail is pulled out of the hole, leaving an entry point for rain to drip through the roof. If a tile is shimmed slowly, the nail end will remain in the hole and can be tapped back into place, blocking water penetration. In any case, if a nail is removed, it must be filled with sealant.

Solar installation companies that are in a hurry are likely to shim the tiles out too quickly and also to fail to fill the nail holes with sealant. Eventually the water will find it’s way to the drip hole, the wood will rot and cause more headaches for the homeowner.

If you are considering solar for your home or business, be sure that it will be installed properly to get the most out of your system. Contact us for a FREE Energy Analysis and piece of mind for a quality installation. Check out the videos below to find out more about what Makello is about.

solar power, energy storage, electric vehicles — Welcome to Makello!

battery backup power 2020 — Get On The Road To Energy Independence!

utility black out battery back up power — Where Will You Be In The Next Blackout?

December 3, 2018April 2, 2024

Buyer’s Rights for Energy Upgrades

There are 10 ways that Makello protects your home from leaks

How does a homeowner build superior quality workmanship into the solar panel bidding process, to protect the home from the risk of water leak, accidental injury, electrical shock and fire hazards?

Makello documents the site survey and installation techniques with step by step photos and videos. Proof of quality workmanship is a “Buyer’s Right”.

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Without context about the actual installation process and installer training for a specific installation, quality talk means very little. If an installer doesn’t have a system to document and identify quality workmanship, a homeowner may not realize the system was installed improperly until years later in the frantic search for a bucket to catch the drips, or a bucket to put out a fire.

At the opening of a recent public lecture at the Vista library in San Diego, I asked a small audience, “How many of you had solar panels installed at your home or business in the last 3 years?” Approximately half of the room responded. I instructed the audience, “Keep your hands up if you experienced a roof leak under the solar panels during recent heavy rains”. About half of the hands remained raised. It was a shocking moment for me, because Makello’s exclusive solar PV installer, Green Energy EPC, has not had any leaks in many 100s of installations in San Diego. However, the guests at my lecture, all of whom were not Green Energy EPC installed solar panel customers, related very different results and experiences.

To my surprise, in the moments that followed, the audience took control of the lecture and started naming names of the installer companies involved. We won’t bad-mouth the competition, but I can tell you that the brands named are easily recognizable to all, including some of the biggest local, regional and national solar installers in the San Diego market. How is this possible, given that many of the companies identified have 4-Star average ratings on Yelp!, Angie’s List and other review websites? How is this possible, given that the Authority Having Jurisdiction passed the permit inspection in each case? The answer is quite simple- once you understand that any company can cut quality where the homeowner and the permit inspector won’t see it, to lower their costs and offer a lower price.

One of the Dirty Little Secrets of the Solar Industry is that the permit inspector is not responsible to inspect the quality workmanship in the attic, under the array, in the flashing and sealant waterproofing, in the wiring, at the connections, in the electric panel, or in the conduit. The burden then falls on the homeowner to climb ladders, scale rooftops, open up electrical panels and hardware, or shimmy on their belly in attics or crawl spaces. To do this inspection thoroughly after installation is difficult, costly and impractical.

March 23, 2018April 2, 2024

My UC Davis Environmental Engineer Internship

Energy Efficiency Research Intern Ashiq Syed with Makello

I first heard about Makello from a friend who was attending the UCSD Spring Job Fair. At the time, I was a fresh graduate in Environmental Engineering from UC Davis exploring companies that were as passionate about renewable energy as I was. From my friend’s vivid explanation of Makello’s job booth, displaying their countless solar installations and home energy improvements, I knew this was one opportunity I couldn’t miss out on.

I went onto Makello’s website and read more about the company goals and beliefs regarding solar and electric vehicles, and found that it matched my interests perfectly. After submitting my resume and getting scheduled for an interview with the lead Energy Efficiency Analyst, I was eventually offered the Energy Efficiency Research Position by the CEO himself, Charlie Johnson.

Solar Energy is Makello’s primary focus when it comes to the company’s purpose. In a very profitable position within the market, Makello establishes its own leads, assesses a homeowner’s electricity consumption, designs an adequate solar array to meet those needs, and then hands off the design to any solar installation company of their choice. During my time as a lead solar array designer on the Makello solar design team, Green Energy EPC was the primary solar installation company Makello worked with, considering the two company owners had developed a very strong partnership over the years.
In addition to being a solar design firm, Makello stood out from the competition by seeking alternative techniques to reduce a homeowner’s electric bill before assessing the electricity needs. To make it simple, by essentially spending $200-$300 swapping out a houses incandescent lightbulbs and excessive energy consuming appliances, a homeowner could potentially cut down the cost of their solar array by $2,000-$3,000. Such cost savings took many customers by pleasant surprise.
Lastly, Charlie Johnson is firm believer of energy independence, which is why he believes that an all-electric future of vehicles is much closer and more affordable than society thinks. With every customer, Charlie carefully sits down and explains what long term cost savings can mean for each respective homeowner. In more cases than not, the average homeowner is capable of purchasing a brand-new Tesla within a matter of 5-6 years if they were to go solar today.
Charlie’s heart and soul are truly and deeply ingrained in renewable energy and electric vehicles. And although it was time for me to move on and explore other opportunities closer to home, Charlie’s drive and passion will surely open up a whole new frontier to the next generation of renewable energy connoisseurs. -by Ashiq Syed

February 27, 2017April 2, 2024

How Makello Was Born

The view inspired making your electric bill low with Makello

Recently, upon arrival at a customer’s home in Valley Center, I declared I knew of a solution to his $24,000/year electric bill, that costs less than $2,000, and wouldn’t require trenching, electric panel upgrades or a SDGE service upgrade.

Judging by his reaction, I knew we had something big…

There was no sales gimmicks involved. Other companies were bidding $45K – $55K for his job. How could we do it for $2K? The answer comes from years of industry knowledge and experiences. I call it: “Makello”, as in “Make it low”, or “make your energy bills as low as possible, for as little investment as possible”.

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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.

Since 2014, Wipomo and Green Energy EPC have improved energy efficiency at many hundreds of homes and businesses in California.

The San Diego market is in extreme competition, so we’re always keeping an eye open for a way to make energy efficiency more affordable for everyone.

Now that we know the secret, we’ll have to share it with everyone.

January 20, 2016April 2, 2024

My UCSD Internship at Wipomo

Tatiana Freinn Von Rheinbaben, Wipomo Research Intern

In the summer of 2015, I worked full-time for the San Diego based energy efficiency company Wipomo. Overall, I had a great and very rewarding learning experience, especially since this was the first internship that I completed in the sustainability and alternative energy sector, an area I would like to work in after graduation.

Research Intern Tatiana assisting on a solar installation — Wipomo Research Intern Tatiana Freinn Von Rheinbaben helping out in a solar installation

As a fourth-year U.C. San Diego student and molecular biology major, my background, aside from a membership of the UCSD organization Engineers for a Sustainable World, did not provide engineering or computer science classes prior to her internship at Wipomo. Thus, basically all the tasks I performed at Wipomo were new to me, but through hard work, dedication and love for nature, conservation, and sustainable development, I was able to contribute to the development of the company and complete my assignments.

My part-time work with Wipomo began in May 2015, and continues until graduation in June 2016. As a social media administrator, I post interesting articles, pictures and/or videos of our work in the field on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Yelp and Youtube. I also helped to staff the Wipomo booth at events, like EcoFest (9th year, formerly Encinitas Environment Day), where Wipomo organized the Energy Ecosystem Pavilion and Electric Vehicle Showcase, or similar to events at UCSD where ESW & Wipomo demonstrated a mobile electric vehicle charging station to commercial business owners.

My full-time work with Wipomo, from July – September, I helped Charlie Johnson, the CEO, to create proposals for customers: we would input a costumers personal, electricity and gas usage information in our model and analyze the house/property with Google Earth to estimate the amount of solar modules the costumer would need to bring the electricity bill close to $0.

During the site survey appointment, we would inspect the roof, measure the roof dimensions, the angle of tilt and azimuth, and record a shading analysis. In some cases, if agreed so by the customer, we also performed an Energy Audit. We record power and use characteristics for appliances, light bulbs, pumps and motors, in our software tools, to analyze the potential cost savings from energy efficiency upgrades like LEDs or Energy Star appliances.

At the office, we interact with the Wipomo team, electrical engineers, mechanical engineers, software engineers, energy efficiency experts, suppliers, distributors and construction industry personnel, to discover the trade-offs in equipment, site and installation techniques for a particular customer. Often we inquire with Sam Syed, owner of Green Energy EPC, before finalizing the solar photovoltaic system proposal. Sam’s team is the one that actually accomplishes the solar array installation. Sam is a NABCEP certified solar installer. He teaches the PV Installation classes at Cuyamaca College and Mira Costa College (Oceanside). I had the chance of watching various Green Energy EPC installations and even assisting at one installation as a volunteer. For a non-engineering person such as myself, the solar installation was an incredibly rewarding experience under the guidance of Green Energy EPC’s trained installers – drilling on the roof, positioning solar modules, connecting the modules to inverters and helping out with various other small tasks was a lot of fun. Overall, I truly enjoyed being outside, in the field and interacting with the customers directly and not only via phone or email. Oh yes- and the view from the roof is usually beautiful!

Another great part of my internship was the fact that I attended the Intersolar North American Conference in San Francisco, a yearly conference where various international companies present their technologies- solar panels, installation equipment, batteries, inverters, and the list goes on and on. And since we were already in Northern California, we also met with a few commercial and residential customers in the Bay Area that are installing in 2016.

Now, after my internship, I can definitely say that I would like to keep working in the field of renewable energy and sustainable development. I might not always work in the solar industry, but I do realize how this field is currently booming and can definitely benefit people and the environment at the same time.
So, my conclusion: after all, anyone can excel in a field that might seem foreign at first- it is up to you to put heart and passion into your work to create the reality you are looking for.

By Tatiana Freinn Von Rheinbaben, Wipomo Research Intern

March 3, 2014April 2, 2024

Solar Installation Exclusive Green Energy EPC

Muqheet(Sam) Syed, President and founder of Green Energy EPC

Sam Syed, owner of Green Energy EPC, has started and trained a community of over 200 photovoltaic systems installers and project developers in San Diego. Many of his students earn NABCEP accreditation, the highest standard of certification in the solar industry for photovoltaic systems installation. The values that Sam teaches in the classroom are the same values that Green Energy upholds outside of the classroom; “Ethical Sales, Quality Installation, and Integrity”. That’s why we are pleased to announce our partnership with Green Energy EPC for San Diego residential solar photovoltaic systems installations.