Northridge, CA · February – October 2023 · LADWP / LADBS

Thirty-one squares came off first. Then twenty-five modules went on.

A full tear-off and a new cool-roof shingle across the whole house, then a twenty-five module array on the new deck and 7.25 kilowatts AC-CEC at the meter.

When a roof is near the end of its life, replacing it before the array goes on avoids removing and reinstalling the array later, which is a second cost. On this house the roof came off first and the modules never touched the old covering.

At a glance

System

7.25 kW AC-CEC

Modules

25 × Mission Solar 395 W

Microinverters

Enphase IQ8PLUS

Roof

Tear-off, 31 squares

Covering

Presidential shake, cool-roof rated

Roof vents

Five, low profile

Utility / AHJ

LADWP / LADBS

The story

This job started as a roof, not as solar. The house is a single-storey ranch with a pool along the back, and the covering was due for replacement. Putting an array over it would have meant taking the array off again to do the roof.

So the roof went first. A full tear-off across thirty-one squares, damaged sheathing replaced where it turned up, and a presidential shake shingle in a cool-roof rated colour back over the whole house. With it went the parts nobody photographs: three bundles of starter strip, a hundred and twenty feet of ridge cap, thirty pieces of drip edge, five low-profile roof vents, step and valley flashing, and a thirty-yard dumpster in the driveway.

Cool-roof rated shingle reflects more of the sun than a standard dark shingle of the same style, which is the reason it shows up in Los Angeles re-roofs. On this house it also meant the roof and the array were specified together rather than one inheriting the other.

The array is twenty-five Mission Solar 395 watt modules with Enphase IQ8PLUS microinverters, laid in two blocks that work around the existing roof vents and the turbine on the main slope. Nothing was moved to make the layout tidier; the array was drawn around what the roof already had.

The solar service installation was completed in the autumn, and the interconnection was granted at 7.25 kilowatts AC-CEC — twenty-five microinverters at their rated continuous output. The array went on a covering installed that same year, so taking it off to re-roof is not the next job on this house.

How it ran

Roof first, array second. That order is the whole point of this one.

What we did

• Stripped thirty-one squares of old covering and replaced damaged sheathing.
• Installed a presidential shake shingle in a cool-roof rated colour across the house.
• Fitted ridge cap, drip edge, five low-profile vents and new step and valley flashing.
• Laid out a twenty-five module array in two blocks around the existing roof vents.
• Installed Enphase IQ8PLUS microinverters, one per module.
• Carried the interconnection to 7.25 kilowatts AC-CEC.

System specifications

Is your project like this one?

• Your roof is close to the end of its life and you are thinking about solar.
• You have been quoted separately by a roofer and a solar company and want one party responsible.
• You want to know what a cool-roof shingle actually is before you pay for one.
• Your roof has vents and a turbine and you want to know how the array works around them.
• You would rather pay for one mobilisation than two.

Cali Energy in Northridge

Frequently asked questions

Should I replace my roof before installing solar?

If the covering is near the end of its life it is worth pricing. An array on an old roof has to come off and go back on when the roof is replaced, and that removal and reinstallation is a second cost. On this house the roof was replaced first and the array went on a new deck.

What is a cool-roof shingle?

A shingle rated for higher solar reflectance than a standard product of the same style, so it takes up less heat. The one used here is a presidential shake profile in a cool-roof rated colour.

How much roof was replaced?

Thirty-one squares, which is the whole house. That included the ridge cap, drip edge, five low-profile vents and new step and valley flashing.

Can one company do both the roof and the solar?

Cali Energy holds B, C-10 and C-39 classifications under CSLB #1032379, which covers both sides of this job. On this project the roof and the array were specified and built by the same company.

Do roof vents get moved for the array?

Not on this one. The array was laid out in two blocks around the vents and the turbine that were already on the roof.

Does Cali Energy re-roof houses in Northridge?

Yes. Northridge is inside City of Los Angeles boundaries, so roofing and solar permits both run through LADBS and the interconnection runs through LADWP.

What this would look like on your roof

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