C-46 Solar Licenses vs. Solar Permits in Los Angeles County: What the Numbers Show
A solar license and a solar track record are different things. These numbers cover one slice of the market — companies holding the C-46 Solar license — and the city permit portals loaded so far into Cali-Graf, the free contractor directory built by Cali Energy, a Los Angeles solar and roofing contractor; solar installed under C-10 Electrical or B General licenses, and permits from other cities, aren't in them. Within that slice, in Los Angeles County, as of October 2026, Cali-Graf lists 314 active C-46 holders who either have an office in the county or pull permits there — but only 136 of them appear on solar permits from the two loaded portals, the City of Los Angeles and Palmdale. Those permits are heavily concentrated: on these portals, the two largest C-46 holders account for about 60% of the 6,338 permitted solar installs by C-46 holders, and the ten largest for 84%. The median C-46 holder with any permits there has four. Orange County looks the same, more so: 182 C-46 holders listed, 100 with permits on the Anaheim and Huntington Beach portals, and the two largest at about 72% of those permits. For a homeowner, the lesson is simple: a license tells you a company may install solar; its permits tell you whether it does — and how much.
Los Angeles County
| Count | |
|---|---|
| Active C-46 solar licenses, office or permits in the county | 314 |
| With solar permits on the loaded portals | 136 |
| Permitted solar installs by these companies | 6,338 |
| Companies with 10 or more installs | 41 |
| Companies with 50 or more | 12 |
| Companies with 100 or more | 7 |
| Median installs, among companies with any | 4 |
Concentration, among C-46 holders on the loaded portals: the largest company accounts for about 34% of these installs, the two largest for about 60%, the five largest for 75%, the ten largest for 84% and the twenty largest for 91%.
Permit portals loaded for Los Angeles County at the time: the City of Los Angeles and the City of Palmdale.
Orange County
| Count | |
|---|---|
| Active C-46 solar licenses, office or permits in the county | 182 |
| With solar permits on the loaded portals | 100 |
| Permitted solar installs by these companies | 2,823 |
| Companies with 10 or more installs | 24 |
| Median installs, among companies with any | 3 |
Concentration, among C-46 holders on the loaded portals: the largest company accounts for about 45% of these installs, the two largest for about 72% and the ten largest for 85%. Portals loaded: the City of Anaheim and the City of Huntington Beach.
Across Southern California
Cali-Graf lists 601 active C-46 solar licenses with an office or permits in the Southern California counties it covers:
| County | With permits on loaded portals | Listed |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 136 | 314 |
| Orange | 100 | 182 |
| San Diego | 22 | 184 |
| San Bernardino | 7 | 47 |
| Riverside | — | 78 |
| Ventura | — | 17 |
Counties without a loaded permit portal show licensed companies by office only. A company can appear in several counties.
What the numbers mean when you hire
- Most C-46 holders have little or no permitted work on these portals. Some are new, some work in other cities, some sell and subcontract. A license alone isn't a track record — check the permits.
- A few large companies file most of these permits. That's volume on the loaded portals, not a ranking of quality. Plenty of capable companies sit between ten and a hundred installs; filters for recent activity and minimum job counts surface them — see shortlisting solar installers by real permits.
- Look for recent work near you. A company's permits by year and ZIP code show whether it's active in your area now — see what a contractor's permit history tells you.
Check whether your installer is among those with recent permits near you.
How these numbers were counted — and their limits
We counted the companies and their solar installs here on Cali-Graf's public solar-installer lists for each county on October 15, 2026, and ranked companies by those counts.
- C-46 holders only. Solar installed by companies holding only a C-10 Electrical or B General license isn't in these lists, so the market is larger than these numbers, and the shares above describe C-46 holders only.
- Loaded portals only. In Los Angeles County that's the City of Los Angeles and Palmdale; work in Pasadena, Long Beach or unincorporated areas isn't counted.
- Different periods. Each portal covers its own years, from the mid-2000s in the City of Los Angeles to the last two years in others.
- Permits that name the license. A permit filed under another company's license counts for that company.
The figures will change as portals are added and as permits are filed.
Frequently asked
How many companies hold a C-46 solar license in Los Angeles County?
Which solar companies install the most in Los Angeles?
Does a solar license mean a company installs solar?
Why don't these numbers include every solar install?
Related reading
Sources & methodology
Product facts on this page come from Cali-Graf's own help center and the pages linked below; figures in examples come from the stated inputs. Features, limits and supported utilities change; each was verified October 16, 2026.
A license says may; permits say does
Look up any installer's license to see its permits by year and ZIP code before you sign. Want a second quote to compare? Cali Energy (CSLB #1032379), which develops Cali-Graf, designs on your own roof. The counts here are Cali Energy's own tally of Cali-Graf's public lists on October 15, 2026, for C-46 holders and the permit portals loaded at the time.
Prepared by Cali Energy, October 16, 2026. This article is for general educational purposes only and is not legal, tax, financial, engineering, or utility advice. Rates, incentives, codes, permit requirements, equipment specifications, prices, and program terms may change; figures and timelines are estimates, not guarantees. Confirm current requirements with the applicable utility, AHJ, program administrator, manufacturer, or a licensed professional. See our Content Disclaimer. Cali Energy · 19201 Parthenia St, Unit E, Northridge, CA 91324 · CSLB #1032379 (B, C-10, C-39)