Winnetka, CA · 2020 – 2023 · LADWP / LADBS

Permitted in a day. Serviced three years later.

A 5.7 kilowatt system on a Winnetka house, permitted over the counter on the same day the drawings came back. Three years later the inverter failed and the company that installed it came back.

A straightforward residential array can be permitted without a plan check, but the electrical side may still need its own permit. Both were issued here on the same day, and the project reached permission to operate nine weeks later.

At a glance

System

5.7 kW AC-CEC

Inverter

SolarEdge SE5000H-US

Permits

Express solar plus a separate electrical permit

Permitting

Both issued the same day

Application to PTO

Nine weeks

Service call

Inverter replaced under warranty, 2023

Battery

None

Utility / AHJ

LADWP / LADBS

The story

A 5.7 kilowatt AC-CEC system on a Winnetka house with a SolarEdge SE5000H inverter. The site visit was on a Monday in November 2020, the plan set came back the following Wednesday, and the permits were issued on the Thursday.

Two permits, not one. This array qualified for the express route, which LADBS allows for certain photovoltaic systems on one- and two-family dwellings — not for every system, and the qualifying conditions are what decide it. The electrical work carried its own permit application alongside it, and both came through the same day.

The interconnection application went in the day before the permits, which is the ordinary sequence: the utility's review runs in parallel with the building department's, not after it.

The building department released the installation in mid-December, the utility approved the interconnection in early January, and permission to operate came through on the twentieth of January 2021 — nine weeks from the interconnection application.

Then the part that matters more than the calendar. In September 2023 the inverter failed with an internal fault. A case was opened with the manufacturer, which approved the replacement under warranty and shipped it within a week, and it went on the wall the following Monday.

Replacing a SolarEdge inverter is not only the box. The monitoring on this system runs over a ZigBee link, so the communications side had to come back with the new unit and the system's record with the manufacturer had to be updated to the replacement before the visit was closed.

Nine weeks to switch on is a number people ask about. Three years later, still answering the phone, is the number that decides whether they ask you again.

How it ran

Two phases three years apart: the installation and interconnection in 2020–2021, and a warranty service visit in 2023.

What we did

• Took the express permit route for the array rather than booking a plan check.
• Filed the separate electrical permit application alongside it and had both issued the same day.
• Filed the interconnection application in parallel with the building department work.
• Carried the project to permission to operate nine weeks from application.
• Opened the manufacturer's warranty case when the inverter failed three years later.
• Installed the replacement and brought the monitoring link back before closing the visit.

System specifications

Is your project like this one?

• Your roof is straightforward and you have been quoted weeks of plan check.
• Nobody has told you whether the electrical work needs its own permit.
• Your system is a few years old and something has stopped working.
• You want to know whether the installer will still be there later.
• Your Winnetka property is served by LADWP, while permits are handled by LADBS.

Cali Energy in Winnetka

Frequently asked questions

What is an express solar permit?

A LADBS route that lets certain photovoltaic systems on one- and two-family dwellings be permitted without a plan check. It does not apply to every system — the qualifying conditions decide. On this project the solar permit was issued the day after the plan set came back, and the electrical work still carried its own permit application.

Does solar always need a separate electrical permit?

Not always, and it is worth establishing which permits a specific project needs before anything is booked. Here there were two: the express solar permit and an electrical permit application filed alongside it.

How long from application to switch-on?

Nine weeks on this project: interconnection application on 17 November 2020, building department release in mid-December, permission to operate on 20 January 2021.

What happens when an inverter fails after a few years?

On this project the manufacturer approved the replacement under warranty; someone still had to open the case, get the authorization and do the work. The case was opened on 12 September 2023, the replacement shipped a week later and it was installed on the twenty-fifth.

Does monitoring come back automatically after an inverter is replaced?

On this system it did not. The monitoring runs over a ZigBee link, so the communications side had to be re-established and the manufacturer's record updated to the replacement unit before the visit was closed.

What this would look like on your roof

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