Pacoima, CA · July 2021 – May 2022 · LADWP / LADBS

A Pacoima system that stops has a reason. Usually a dull one.

Two service visits to one Pacoima array ten months after it went up, and neither problem was in the modules on the roof.

Written by the Cali Energy project team · California contractor license 1032379 · Updated September 2026

When a solar system stops producing, the causes worth checking first are boring: a breaker that has been switched off, a breaker that has failed, a monitoring device that is not reporting. On this Pacoima system the first Cali Energy service visit found the array producing nothing because it had simply been switched off, and the technician switched it back on. When it went down again the second visit found the cause in the same place: the thirty-five amp AC breaker had burned at the busbar. It was replaced, the SolarEdge inverter firmware was updated, and normal production was confirmed. Neither fault was on the roof.

At a glance

System

7.2 kW, SolarEdge inverter

Roof

Low slope, re-roofed before installation

Installed

July 2021

Final inspection passed

September 2021

First service visit

May 2022 — system found switched off

Second service visit

May 2022 — 35 A AC breaker burned at the busbar

Resolved

2 June 2022 — breaker replaced, firmware updated, output normal

Utility / AHJ

LADWP / LADBS

The story

This array went up in July 2021 on a low-slope roof that had just been re-covered. Ten months later the system was reported as producing nothing, and what the service visits found is the useful part of the story.

The first visit found the system switched off. Not failed, not faulted — off. The Cali Energy technician switched it back on and it produced. That sounds like an anticlimax and it is the single most common finding on a service call for a system that has stopped. Breakers get switched during other work in the panel, during an outage, or by somebody checking something, and nothing about a solar system makes it switch itself back on afterwards.

The same visit dealt with a separate report of a roof leak. The leak was traced to the roof covering rather than to anything the solar work had touched: the material had been laid without enough overlap, and water was finding the gap. That went back to the roofing trade to resolve. It is worth knowing that a leak appearing after a solar installation is not automatically a solar leak, and the way to tell is to look at where the water is actually entering rather than at what changed most recently.

Then the system went down again, and the second visit found the real fault. The thirty-five amp AC breaker feeding the system had burned at the busbar. It was replaced, the SolarEdge inverter's firmware was brought up to date at the same time, and the system returned to normal production, confirmed on the second of June. A breaker is a consumable protective device; it is supposed to fail rather than let something worse happen, and one that has failed will not reset — it has to be changed.

There is a detail in this project's permit history that reads differently once you know how it ended. At the first final inspection the inspector issued a correction because the standard plan set specified a fifteen amp breaker where the system needed thirty-five. The plans were revised and the final passed. The breaker that burned ten months later was the correct thirty-five amp device, failing at the busbar connection rather than being undersized — which is why the fix was a replacement and a firmware update rather than a redesign.

One more thing on this project made the first two faults harder to diagnose. The system had no working monitoring, so nobody could see from a screen what the array was doing. When it stopped in October 2021 the report was that it was not communicating online; the monitoring gateway was not in the original equipment delivery, and a cellular kit had to be ordered before anything could be connected.

Monitoring is not decoration. Without it, a system that stops is discovered when somebody notices a bill, which can be two months later, and diagnosis starts from nothing. With it, a switched-off system and a failed breaker look different from each other on the first screen you open. On any system, confirm at handover that monitoring is not just registered but actually reporting.

How it ran

Ten months from installation to the first service call, and five weeks from that call to a confirmed fix. This timeline reflects this property and this period.

What we did

• Installed a 7.2 kW array over a newly re-covered low-slope roof (C-10).
• Carried the project to a passed final inspection.
• Attended on report of no production, found the system switched off and restarted it.
• Traced the reported leak to the roof covering rather than to the array, and documented it with photographs.
• Returned on a second report, found the 35 A AC breaker burned at the busbar and replaced it.
• Updated the SolarEdge inverter firmware and confirmed normal production.
• Flagged the missing monitoring gateway so a cellular kit could be ordered.

System specifications

Is your project like this one?

• Your system has stopped producing and you do not know where to start.
• Your solar breaker will not stay on.
• A leak appeared after your solar was installed.
• Your system has never reported to a monitoring app.
• You want to know what a service call actually checks.

Cali Energy in Pacoima

Frequently asked questions

My solar system stopped producing. What gets checked first?

The breaker, then the monitoring, then the equipment. On this Pacoima system the first visit found it switched off at the breaker and simply restarted it, and the second visit found the thirty-five amp AC breaker burned at the busbar and replaced it, with a SolarEdge firmware update alongside. Neither fault was on the roof. Checking the dull causes first is not laziness, it is the order that finds most faults fastest.

Can a solar breaker fail?

Yes. A breaker is a protective device and failing is part of what it does — it is designed to open rather than let a fault continue. On this project it burned at the busbar connection and had to be replaced; a failed breaker will not reset. If yours trips repeatedly or will not stay on, that is a reason for a service visit rather than for repeatedly resetting it.

Does Cali Energy service systems it did not install?

Yes. Cali Energy takes service calls on existing systems in Pacoima and across the San Fernando Valley, including fault-finding on breakers and inverters, monitoring that never reported, and leaks reported after a solar installation. Nine Pacoima projects are written up on our projects page. Our license is CSLB #1032379.

Is a leak after solar installation always caused by the solar?

No, and assuming so wastes time. On this project the leak was traced to the roof covering, which had been laid without enough overlap, rather than to any penetration made for the array. The way to tell is to find where water is actually entering rather than to reason from what changed most recently.

What this would look like on your roof

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