Winnetka, CA · September – December 2025 · LADWP / LADBS

One house. Two work requests. Two meter spots.

A 4.73 kilowatt DC system, 3.68 kilowatts AC-CEC, on a Winnetka house that also needed its service panel and service replaced. Those are two different jobs at the utility, and they do not travel together.

A service panel replacement and a solar interconnection are separate work requests at LADWP, handled by different groups. Each gets its own representative, its own meter spot and its own conditions — and the building department reviews them as separate permits.

At a glance

DC System

4.73 kW

CEC-AC rating

3.68 kW

Modules

11 × URECO 430 W

Inverters

Enphase IQ8A

Service

200 A main breaker

Utility work requests

Two — service and solar

Permits

Panel upgrade and solar

Utility / AHJ

LADWP / LADBS

The story

Eleven URECO 430-watt modules, 4.73 kilowatts DC and a CEC-AC rating of 3.68 kilowatts, on IronRidge racking over a composition shingle roof. Each module has its own Enphase IQ8A microinverter. That part of the job is ordinary. What made this project worth writing down is what happened at the utility.

The house needed its main service panel replaced as well as the array installed. At LADWP those are not one job. The panel replacement went through Valley Service Planning on its own work request; the solar interconnection went through the PV Interconnections Group on a different one. Different groups, different representatives, different meter spots.

The service side moved first, and then stopped. LADWP publishes a window of five to fifteen business days for a meter spot visit to be assigned. On this project that window had passed with nothing scheduled, and the assigned representative's voicemail said he would be back in a month. We wrote to the department mailbox, confirmed that these were panel jobs rather than solar ones, and a second representative locked the dates. The meter spot arrived the same day.

It came with conditions, and they are the kind worth knowing before the wall is framed. The new meter panel had to go in the same position as the existing one or to the right of it. It could not sit directly above the crawl space entrance. And if a recessed panel and riser were used, the utility had to inspect the riser bracing before the walls were closed up — not after.

With the service settled, the interconnection application for the array went in, and the PV group issued its own meter spot for it. Two work requests, two meter spots, one house.

Both permits — the panel upgrade and the solar — were inspected in a single video slot under the building department's virtual inspection program. Taking part in that program means signing a participation agreement, which we did the day before. The same agreement prohibits recording the inspection, which is why there is no video of it.

The building department released the installation on the seventeenth of November, the utility completed its interconnection review the same day, and permission to operate came through on the third of December.

How it ran

The calendar covers two parallel utility work requests — one for the service panel, one for the solar — and the building department review of both permits.

What we did

• Ran the service panel replacement and the solar interconnection as the two separate utility work requests they are.
• Escalated a meter spot that had passed fifteen business days with no response, and got it issued the same day.
• Built to the meter spot conditions: position relative to the existing panel, clearance of the crawl space entrance, riser bracing inspected before the walls closed.
• Installed eleven modules on IronRidge racking, each on its own microinverter.
• Signed the virtual inspection participation agreement and put both permits through one video slot.
• Carried the project through building department release to permission to operate.

System specifications

Is your project like this one?

• Your house needs a new service panel as well as solar.
• You have been told the utility is handling it and nothing is moving.
• You are framing walls and nobody has told you what the utility needs to see first.
• You want to know why there are two work request numbers on one project.
• Your Winnetka property is served by LADWP, while permits are handled by LADBS.

Cali Energy in Winnetka

Frequently asked questions

Do a panel upgrade and solar go through the utility together?

No. On this house they were two separate LADWP work requests: the service panel replacement through Valley Service Planning and the solar interconnection through the PV Interconnections Group. Each had its own representative and its own meter spot, and each carried its own building department permit.

What is a meter spot and what does it decide?

It is the utility's written approval of where the meter panel goes, and it carries conditions. On this project it required the new panel to sit in the same position as the existing one or to the right of it, kept it clear of the crawl space entrance, and required the utility to inspect the riser bracing before the walls were closed up.

How long should a meter spot take?

LADWP publishes a window of five to fifteen business days for the visit to be assigned. On this project that window had passed with nothing scheduled and the assigned representative was away, so we wrote to the department mailbox; a second representative picked it up and the meter spot was issued that day.

Can two permits be inspected in one visit?

They were here. The panel upgrade and the solar were both covered in a single slot under the building department's virtual inspection program, which is a LADBS program and separate from the utility's own approval. Taking part requires signing a participation agreement first, and that agreement prohibits recording the inspection.

Does Cali Energy handle service panel work as well as solar in Winnetka?

Yes. Cali Energy holds B, C-10 and C-39 classifications under CSLB #1032379, which lets us carry the panel, the service and the array under one contractor. Winnetka 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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• The inspector never came to the house Chatsworth, CA · LADBS Virtual Inspection Program Solar

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