Home battery installation for backup and storage
Cali Energy installs home batteries across Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley, in Burbank, Glendale, Calabasas, Simi Valley and Santa Clarita. Tesla Powerwall, Enphase IQ Battery and SolarEdge Home Battery, with new solar or added to a system you already have. One licensed contractor designs the backup, files the permits and carries the utility approval.
A home battery keeps chosen circuits running when the grid goes down and stores solar power for the evening. What makes it work is decided before installation day: matching the battery's output to the loads you want backed up, placing it where the fire code allows, and getting a separate storage approval from your utility. Cali Energy, a Tesla Powerwall Certified Installer based in Northridge (CSLB #1032379), installs home batteries across Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley and handles every step from the site visit to the day the system is switched on.
When a battery is worth adding
- Outages you cannot sit through. A refrigerator full of food, a home office, medical equipment, a furnace or a well pump that has to keep running.
- Southern California Edison service. Under SCE's Net Billing Tariff, solar sent to the grid earns far less than the power you buy back in the evening, so keeping it at home does more work. Do you need a battery under NEM 3.0?
- Public Safety Power Shutoffs. SCE can switch off lines in fire weather. A battery keeps your backup circuits powered while the lines are off, for as long as its charge and your solar allow. What triggers a PSPS shutoff
- Solar you already have. A battery can be added years later as its own project. Adding a battery to existing solar
- A main panel you are replacing anyway. A new service built for storage today saves opening it again later.
Batteries we install
| Battery | Pairs with | Our credential |
|---|---|---|
| Tesla Powerwall | New solar, or added beside an existing system | Tesla Powerwall Certified Installer |
| Enphase IQ Battery | Enphase microinverter systems | Our lead installer is certified by Enphase |
| SolarEdge Home Battery | SolarEdge inverter systems | Our lead installer is certified by SolarEdge |
| LG RESU Prime | Compatible inverters | LG RESU Prime Certified Installer |
Whole home or the circuits that matter
Every battery has a continuous output rating, and everything it backs up has to fit inside it. That number decides the design.
With a backup panel, the circuits you choose move to a separate panel that the battery feeds. In a Simi Valley house the battery's 40-amp output carried the refrigerator, freezer, furnace, water heater, internet and general outlets, and the 50-amp electric stove stayed on the main panel. Whole-home backup takes more capacity: a Santa Clarita home runs four battery units for it. Compare whole-home and critical-loads backup
How a battery installation runs
- Site visit. We check the main panel, the meter, the wall where the battery will go, and the circuits you want running in an outage.
- Design. Battery model and count, backup panel or whole-home gateway, and the placement with its clearances drawn on the plans. In Santa Clarita the fire department reviews storage on its own, so the design moved the batteries from the garage to an exterior wall and drew the three-foot clearance in elevation.
- Permit. We file with LADBS or your city and answer plan check. In Encino the reviewer asked about the distance between the battery and its interconnect device; we answered the same afternoon and the plans were approved that day.
- Installation. Battery, gateway, backup panel and wiring, under our C-10 electrical license. In San Fernando the Powerwall bracket went up first thing in the morning, and the array and battery were in place by the next morning.
- Inspection and utility approval. After the city's final inspection, the utility approves the storage on its own track. Glendale Water & Power released the Glendale battery six days after the final.
- Switch-on. We set the backup reserve, connect the app and show you what keeps running when the grid goes down.
LADWP, SCE, Glendale and Burbank
- LADWP serves the Los Angeles neighborhoods of the Valley. A battery goes through its own LADWP storage review, with information sheets, a site inspection and photographs, alongside the solar interconnection. LADWP solar and battery incentives
- Southern California Edison serves Simi Valley, Santa Clarita, Calabasas, Hidden Hills and San Fernando. New solar is billed under the Net Billing Tariff, and fire weather can bring PSPS shutoffs. The state's SGIP battery incentive covers SCE customers; in 2026 only its income-qualified tier for new solar with storage takes applications. SGIP battery incentives
- Glendale Water & Power and Burbank Water and Power are city utilities with their own interconnection. In Glendale the battery needs its own energy-storage permission alongside the city permit. Solar with GWP · Solar with BWP
Battery projects we have completed
Encino: a battery six inches from its interconnect device, approved the same day.
Enphase IQ Battery with an Enpower device on a single-story Encino house; plans approved the day plan check asked, battery backup running since May 2022.
A battery decided how this Woodland Hills array was wired.
A battery-first design on an LADWP home, carried through the utility's storage review; running with battery backup since May 2022.
The solar went on in December. The battery came in May.
SolarEdge Home Battery added in May after December solar; seven circuits on backup, released six days after the final inspection.
The battery gives you forty amps. The stove wanted fifty.
A backup panel sized to a 40-amp battery output: refrigerator, freezer, furnace, water heater and internet stay on in an outage.
Santa Clarita: the batteries came out of the garage.
Four battery units for whole-home backup, moved to an exterior wall and approved; running since permission to operate in January 2025.
A Powerwall on the wall, 22 modules on four sections of roof
A Tesla Powerwall on the patio wall and a 22-module Enphase array on the roof, both in place by the morning after work began, storing the afternoon's solar for the evening.
What moves the price
- How many batteries, and how much of the house they back up.
- A backup panel or a whole-home gateway.
- The main panel: some batteries need a service upgrade or a derated main breaker first. Main panel upgrades
- Where the battery is mounted and how far it sits from the main panel.
- Incentives you qualify for. SGIP in 2026 · LADWP programs
Warranty
New Cali Energy installations carry 25 years on workmanship from PTO. The battery itself carries its manufacturer's warranty, which we register for you. Our warranties
Home batteries by city. Simi Valley · Santa Clarita · Woodland Hills · all services by city
Battery installation questions
Does Cali Energy install solar batteries in Los Angeles?
Yes. Cali Energy installs Tesla Powerwall, Enphase IQ Battery and SolarEdge Home Battery systems across Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley, in Burbank, Glendale, Calabasas, Simi Valley and Santa Clarita, with new solar or added to an existing system. We design the backup, file the permits and carry the utility approval. Cali Energy is a Tesla Powerwall Certified Installer based in Northridge, CSLB #1032379; call +1-323-844-7777.
Can a battery be added to solar I already have?
Yes, as its own project with its own permit, inspection and utility approval. In Glendale the solar went on in December and we added a SolarEdge Home Battery in May, with seven chosen circuits on a backup panel, and the utility released it six days after the final inspection.
Will a battery run my whole house?
That depends on the battery's continuous output and the loads you want to keep. In this Simi Valley project a 40-amp output carried the refrigerator, freezer, furnace, water heater and internet, and the 50-amp stove stayed on the grid. A Santa Clarita home uses four battery units for whole-home backup.
Do I need a new main panel for a battery?
Sometimes. The service has to accept the battery's connection. In Woodland Hills the battery design went in with an upgraded panel and a main breaker derated to 175 amps; in Winnetka we built a 225-amp service ready for a battery the owners had not bought yet. A site visit settles it for your house.
Where can the battery be mounted?
Where the manufacturer's installation manual and the fire code allow, with the clearances drawn on the plans. In Santa Clarita the fire department reviewed the storage plans separately from the city, and the batteries went on an exterior wall with a three-foot clearance shown in elevation.
How long does a battery installation take?
The work on site is short: in San Fernando the Powerwall and the array were in place by the morning after the bracket went up. In our projects most of the calendar goes to the permit and to the utility's storage approval after the city's final inspection; we file the permit and carry the storage approval through to switch-on.
Read next
Find out what a battery can carry in your house
Send a recent electric bill and a photo of your main electrical panel. We will tell you which battery fits, which circuits it can keep running in an outage, and what the city and your utility will require.
Get a battery estimate Call +1-323-844-7777
Cali Energy · Northridge, CA · cali-energy.com