Pacoima, CA · May – August 2021 · LADWP / LADBS

In Pacoima, a panel upgrade decides which route you file on.

Nine kilowatts on a low-slope roof, a service panel that had to be replaced, and the one document that determines how the interconnection is filed.

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

The utility offers more than one interconnection route. The quick one is built for systems that connect to the service as it already exists; the standard one is what a project needs when the service itself changes, because only it produces a meter spot — the utility's written instruction on where new service equipment may go. On this Pacoima project the main panel was being replaced, so a meter spot was required. Cali Energy confirmed the scope to the utility's service planner the day he raised it, filed the photographs he asked for, and the request moved onto the standard process with the meter spot sheet issued nine days after filing.

At a glance

System

9.3 kW AC-CEC

Roof

Low slope, tilt frames

Service

Main panel replaced as part of the project

Interconnection filed

14 June 2021

Meter spot issued

23 June 2021 — nine days later

Final inspection

16 July 2021, corrections on both permits

Permission to operate

29 July 2021

Utility / AHJ

LADWP / LADBS

The story

The site visit on this house produced a quote with an item in it that homeowners do not enjoy reading: the main service panel had to be replaced before any solar could be connected. That was priced into the project as one number rather than presented later as a surprise, which is the only way to price it that survives the install.

That decision about the panel is what sets everything downstream, because it changes which interconnection route the project belongs on. The utility runs more than one. The quick route exists for systems that tie into the electrical service the way it already stands: fewer documents, a quicker review, no site planning work. It is the right route for a great many residential projects.

Replacing the main panel is service work, and service work needs a meter spot — the utility's written instruction on where the new equipment may be placed and under what conditions. Only the standard process produces one. That single document is the whole reason the routes are not interchangeable, and it is worth knowing before a request is filed rather than after.

The utility's service planner raised it the day after the request went in. He wrote asking for photographs from the panel to the pole and added the observation that mattered: the job looked like a service upgrade. Cali Energy confirmed the scope the same day and asked how to move the application onto the standard process.

The photographs went in within two days. Raising it with the department's management moved it the same day, and the meter spot sheet came through on the twenty-third of June — nine days after the request was filed — with an instruction to send photographs of the completed installation once it was done. Nine days to get a service upgrade onto the right route and documented is a good outcome, not a delay.

From there it ran in order. The array went on a low-slope roof on tilt frames, which is how a nine-kilowatt system fits and gets its pitch on a roof that has almost none. The final inspection was on the sixteenth of July and produced corrections on both permits — the solar and the electrical for the panel — which is ordinary on a project carrying two. Both were cleared, the utility marked the installation approved on the twenty-first of July, and permission to operate was issued on the twenty-ninth.

The system was registered on Enphase Enlighten on the fifth of August so the household could see production per module, and the unconditional waiver closing the project out followed five days later. The practical takeaway is the one the service planner gave for free: match the interconnection route to the scope before filing. If the service is changing, the project needs a meter spot, and the meter spot is what decides the route.

How it ran

Nine days from the interconnection filing to the meter spot, and six weeks from filing to permission to operate. This timeline reflects this property and this period.

What we did

• Quoted the required main panel upgrade inside the project price rather than after it (C-10).
• Confirmed the scope to the utility the same day its service planner raised it.
• Filed the panel-to-pole photographs the utility asked for within two days.
• Carried the interconnection on the standard process and obtained the meter spot sheet nine days after filing.
• Installed a nine-kilowatt array on tilt frames over a low-slope roof.
• Cleared corrections on both permits and carried the project to permission to operate on 29 July.
• Registered the system on Enphase Enlighten and closed the project with an unconditional waiver.

System specifications

Is your project like this one?

• Your project includes a main service panel upgrade.
• You have been told a quick-route filing will save you time.
• You want to know what a meter spot is and whether you need one.
• You have a low-slope roof and want to know how the array gets its pitch.
• Your project is carrying two permits and you expected one.

Cali Energy in Pacoima

Frequently asked questions

What is a meter spot and when do you need one?

It is the utility's written instruction on where service equipment may be placed and under what conditions. You need one whenever the service itself changes — a new main panel, a relocated meter, a service upgrade. A solar system that connects to the service as it already stands usually does not need one, which is why the quick interconnection routes do not issue them.

Can an interconnection request be moved between routes?

Yes, and on this Pacoima project it took nine days end to end. The utility's service planner asked for panel-to-pole photographs and noted that the job looked like a service upgrade; the scope was confirmed the same day, the photographs went in within two days, and the meter spot sheet followed. There is no penalty for the move itself — the cost is only the time a mismatch sits unnoticed.

Does Cali Energy handle main panel upgrades with solar in Pacoima?

Yes. Cali Energy quotes the service work inside the project price when a panel has to be replaced, carries the meter spot request and runs both the solar and electrical permits through LADBS to a passed final. Nine Pacoima projects are written up on our projects page. Our license is CSLB #1032379.

Why does a project like this have two permits?

Because two different scopes of work are being inspected. The solar array is one permit and replacing the main service panel is another, and each gets its own corrections at the final if the inspector finds anything. Seeing correction notices arrive on both on the same day is ordinary rather than a sign of trouble.

What this would look like on your roof

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