Home battery installation in Encino, CA
Cali Energy installs home batteries in Encino with new solar or beside a system you already have. Our Encino battery project put an Enphase IQ Battery and its interconnect device with twenty-seven REC modules on a new 225-amp service panel, and the house has run with battery backup since May 2022.
In Encino a battery runs through two agencies. LADBS reviews and inspects the storage on its own permit, separate from the solar, and LADWP adds a second inspection for the battery, done on photographs and a single-line placard at the meter panel. On our Encino project the plans were approved the day a plan-check question was answered, the building final passed on 4 May 2022, the utility approved the photo set three days after it went in, and permission to operate came on 25 May.
Why Encino homes add a battery
- Backup first. LADWP credits exported solar at the retail rate, so in Encino a battery is bought for outages first and for using your own afternoon production in the evening second. LADWP solar and battery incentives
- Circuits you choose. A backup subpanel carries the loads that matter in an outage, and the battery is sized to them. Whole home or the circuits that matter
- Our systems here. Eight Encino systems are under our monitoring, one of them with a battery.
The panel decides the battery
A battery feeds the busbar alongside the array, so the service has to take both. On our Encino project the existing panel could carry thirteen modules; the design called for twenty-seven and a battery. We built a new service panel with a 225-amp busbar to take a combined 70-amp solar and storage backfeed, and drew the battery, the interconnect device and the backup subpanel as one system on the plan set. Main panel upgrades in Encino
Placement is a measured distance
The electrical code asks for overcurrent protection at the battery itself when its terminals sit more than five feet from the equipment they connect to, or when the circuit passes through a wall. On our Encino project the battery hangs six inches from its interconnect device, on the house's structure rather than on the stucco alone. The plan reviewer confirmed that distance the same afternoon, and the plans were approved that day.
LADWP's second inspection
A battery in LADWP territory is inspected twice: by the building department, and by the utility on a set of photographs with an engraved single-line placard at the meter panel. On our Encino project the photo set went in on 13 May 2022, the utility approved it on the 16th, and the net meter was set eight days later. When the manufacturer later added a load controller requirement for systems of this configuration, it went in at no cost to the owner.
Our Encino battery project
Encino: a battery six inches from its interconnect device, approved the same day.
Twenty-seven REC modules, an Enphase IQ Battery, its interconnect device and a backup subpanel on a new 225-amp service panel; permission to operate on 25 May 2022.
How a battery installation runs in Encino
- Site visit. Main panel, meter, the wall for the battery, and the circuits you want running in an outage.
- Design. Battery, interconnect device and backup subpanel drawn as one system, with distances and clearances on the plans.
- LADBS permits for the solar and the storage, and the panel work where the service changes.
- Installation under our C-10 electrical license.
- Building final, then LADWP: the photo set and the single-line placard for the storage inspection.
- Switch-on, with the backup reserve set and the monitoring online.
Nearby. Home batteries in Woodland Hills · Glendale · Simi Valley · All our Encino projects
Battery questions for Encino
Does Cali Energy install home batteries in Encino?
Yes. Cali Energy designed, permitted and installed an Enphase battery system in Encino on a new 225-amp service panel, carried it through LADBS and LADWP's storage inspection, and the house has run with battery backup since May 2022. Tesla Powerwall Certified Installer, CSLB #1032379, based in Northridge; call +1-323-844-7777.
Does LADWP inspect the battery separately?
Yes. After the building final, LADWP reviews a battery on photographs of the installed system and an engraved single-line placard at the meter panel. On our Encino project the utility approved the set three days after it was submitted.
Will I need a new panel for a battery in Encino?
Only if the busbar cannot take the solar and storage backfeed together. On our Encino project the old panel stopped at thirteen modules, so a new panel with a 225-amp busbar went in with the battery and twenty-seven modules.
How long does a battery project take in Encino?
Our Encino project ran three and a half months from the first site visit to permission to operate, with the panel replacement, the storage plan check and LADWP's photo inspection inside that time.
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See what a battery can carry in your Encino house
Send a recent LADWP bill and a photo of your main panel. We will tell you which battery fits, which circuits it can keep running in an outage, and what LADBS and LADWP's storage inspection will need.
Get an Encino battery estimate Call +1-323-844-7777
Cali Energy · Northridge, CA · cali-energy.com