Sherman Oaks, CA · July – October 2024 · LADWP / LADBS

The wiring went in before the walls did.

A new two-story house in Sherman Oaks where the solar conduit was run through open framing rather than across a finished exterior. The building department released it in nine days. Then the calendar moved elsewhere.

On a house still under construction the solar conduit can be run inside the framing before the walls are closed, which keeps it out of sight and removes exterior penetrations.

At a glance

System

3.58 kW AC-CEC

Inverters

Enphase IQ8M

Building

New two-story house

Roof

Composition shingle

Conduit

Run inside open framing

AHJ release

9 days from application

App → meter

76 calendar days

Utility / AHJ

LADWP / LADBS

The story

The house was new — demolished lot, new two-story build with an attached garage, certificate of occupancy issued. When solar goes onto a house at that stage, one thing becomes possible that is not possible later.

The conduit run from the roof down to the service equipment went through open framing. No exterior chase down a finished wall, no penetrations through stucco that have to be sealed and painted, nothing on the outside of the house to look at. On a house that is already finished, a run like this one would most likely have gone on the outside of the wall instead.

The system itself is modest by the standards of the houses around it: 3.58 kilowatts AC-CEC on Enphase IQ8M microinverters, on composition shingle.

The permitting side moved quickly. The interconnection application went in at the end of July 2024 and the building department released the installation nine days later.

And then the project waited. The utility review resumed on 4 October, and when it did it moved all at once: the interconnection review, the site assessment and the utility's own final inspection review all completed that day, and the meter was set three days later.

Seventy-six calendar days from application to meter, of which the building department used nine. That ratio is worth knowing before anyone promises a date — the part a contractor controls and the part a contractor waits on are not the same size.

How it ran

The 76 days run from the interconnection application to the net meter. Nine of them were the building department; the rest sat with the utility's review and meter scheduling.

What we did

• Ran the solar conduit through open framing before the walls were closed.
• Installed the array on composition shingle on the new roof.
• Filed the interconnection application and obtained the building department release in nine days.
• Carried the project through the utility's interconnection review to the net meter.

System specifications

Is your project like this one?

• Your house is being built and you are deciding whether to add solar now or later.
• You do not want conduit running down the outside of a new wall.
• You have been given a completion date and want to know which part is actually fixed.
• Your building department release has come through and nothing has moved since.
• Your Sherman Oaks property is served by LADWP, while permits are handled by LADBS.

Cali Energy in Sherman Oaks

Frequently asked questions

Is it better to install solar during construction or after?

During construction the conduit can be run inside the framing before the walls are closed, which is what happened here — no exterior chase, no stucco penetrations. After the house is finished the same run has to be surface-mounted. The electrical design does not change; where the wiring can go does.

Why did the project take 76 days when the permit cleared in nine?

Because the two halves of the calendar belong to different bodies. The building department released this installation nine days after the application. The remainder sat with the utility's interconnection review and meter scheduling, and then completed in a single day in October.

What size system goes on a new house?

Whatever the design and the compliance documents call for. This one is 3.58 kilowatts AC-CEC, which is modest next to the size of the house. On new construction the minimum comes from the energy code compliance report for that building rather than from a rule of thumb.

Does Cali Energy work with builders during construction in Sherman Oaks?

Yes, and a large share of our Sherman Oaks work is exactly that — houses rebuilt from the ground up where solar is part of the build. Sherman Oaks is inside City of Los Angeles boundaries, so permits run through LADBS and interconnection through LADWP.

What this would look like on your roof

Related

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