North Hollywood, CA · August 2019 · LADWP / LADBS

Solar and the panel it connects to are two permits.

Two houses, one week, both needing the service replaced before anything could be energised. On one of them the final inspection was nearly attended without the panel permit in hand.

When a solar job includes replacing the main panel, that is a second scope with its own permit and its own inspection, even though the same crew does both on the same day. Passing one does not release the other. A solar job with no panel work in it is a single permit — the trap is assuming that is always the case, and turning up to a final inspection holding only one of the two.

At a glance

Houses

Two, one week apart

House A

14 modules with per-module optimisers

House B

19 modules

Both

Main panel upgrade

House B panel

200 A, same location

Permits per house

Two — photovoltaic and panel upgrade

Inspections

Separate, sometimes on the same visit

Utility / AHJ

LADWP / LADBS

The story

In one week of August 2019 we finished two houses in North Hollywood. They were not connected to each other, and what they had in common is this: both needed the main electrical panel replaced before the solar could connect to it.

The first house took fourteen Mission Solar 310 watt modules with a power optimiser under each one — the architecture where the panels feed a single inverter but each module is managed individually. The second took nineteen modules and a main panel upgrade to 200 amps in the same location as the old one.

Here is the part that catches people out. Those are two permits per house. The photovoltaic system is permitted as one job; the main panel upgrade is permitted as another, with its own number and its own inspection. The same crew can do both in two days, and the paperwork still treats them as separate work.

On the second house that distinction became real. The array went on one day, the panel was replaced the next, and the final inspection was booked for the morning after that. On the morning itself we did not have the panel upgrade permit to hand and no inspection had been scheduled against it — the photovoltaic final was booked, the panel final was not.

It was resolved the same day: the permit was located and sent through, and the scheduling was sorted out. Nothing was lost except a few hours of everyone's attention on a morning when the crew was already on site. But it is a clean example of the failure mode: a project that is genuinely finished on the roof and in the wall can still be held open by an inspection nobody booked, because it belongs to the other permit.

On the first house the panel work was moved twice for a much more ordinary reason — the homeowner would not be home and did not want anyone at the house unattended. That is entirely reasonable and it is worth planning for, because a panel replacement needs the power off and somebody present, which a roof installation does not.

That house's final inspection covered both the photovoltaic system and the panel upgrade in one visit, and both passed at the end of August.

Two things to take from this if you are having a panel replaced alongside solar. Ask for both permit numbers, not one — if a contractor can only produce one, something has not been filed. And ask how the inspections are being scheduled, because requesting a photovoltaic final does not request the electrical one, and the system cannot be switched on until both are closed.

How it ran

Two houses, four permits, one week.

What we did

• Replaced the main panel on both houses so the arrays had something to connect to.
• Carried separate photovoltaic and panel-upgrade permits on each property.
• Worked around an owner's requirement to be present for the panel replacement, moving it twice.
• Resolved a missing panel permit on the morning of an inspection without losing the visit.
• Closed the photovoltaic and panel-upgrade inspections on one house in a single visit.

System specifications

Is your project like this one?

• You have been told your panel must be replaced before solar can connect.
• You want to know why your project has more than one permit number.
• Your system is installed but has not been switched on and nobody can say why.
• You need to be present for work at your house and want it scheduled around you.
• You are checking what a contractor has actually filed.

Cali Energy in North Hollywood

Frequently asked questions

Why does a solar project have two permits?

Because a rooftop array and a main panel upgrade are separate scopes. Each is permitted on its own, with its own number and its own inspection, even when the same crew does both in the same week.

Does passing the solar inspection mean the job is done?

Not if there is a panel upgrade. The electrical work has its own inspection, and the system cannot be energised until both are closed. On one of these houses the photovoltaic final was booked and the panel final was not.

What should I ask my contractor to show me?

Both permit numbers, and how each inspection has been scheduled. If only one permit exists, the other scope has not been filed.

Do I need to be home for a panel replacement?

Usually yes, or somebody does. The power goes off and the work is inside the building's service, unlike a roof installation. On one of these houses it was moved twice for exactly that reason, which is a fair request.

Can both inspections be done on one visit?

Sometimes. On one of these houses the photovoltaic system and the panel upgrade were both signed off in a single visit at the end of August.

What this would look like on your roof

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This timeline reflects this property and this permitting path. Updated September 2026.