EV charger installation in Northridge, CA
Cali Energy installs Level 2 EV chargers in Northridge, where our office is, on their own or on a house that already has solar. On one Northridge house we re-roofed in 2020 and installed solar in 2021, and when the household needed a charger, we came back, estimated it and wired it into the same service the array runs on.
In Northridge a Level 2 charger is electrical work under an LADBS permit, and it connects to the same main panel as everything else in the house, including a solar array. The question that decides the job is what the panel can carry. On our Northridge project the charger went into the service we had already worked on for the solar, so the person installing it knew what was in the panel before the estimate.
What a Level 2 charger needs in Northridge
- A dedicated circuit. Breaker at 125% of the charger's current, wire sized to the breaker, and a hardwired connection on a 48-amp charger. Circuit sizes and the 125% rule
- Room in the main panel. A load calculation shows whether the charger fits beside the house's other loads, on the main breaker as it is after any derate made for solar; where it does not, a panel upgrade comes first. Main panel upgrades in Northridge
- An LADBS permit and inspection. Northridge is in the City of Los Angeles.
- The houses. Median build year 1958; 90.1% of Northridge's 10,887 single-family homes were built before 1978.
A charger on a solar house
On a house with solar the panel already carries a solar breaker and sometimes a derated main breaker, so the charger's load calculation starts from the panel as it is now. On our Northridge project we had replaced the roof in 2020, priced the solar five ways the following spring and carried it to permission to operate on 14 May 2021. Over the next years the household came back for a site visit and for an EV charger, which we estimated and then installed on the same service the array runs on. With one contractor across the roof, the electrical and the solar, the person installing the charger already knew what was in the panel.
Our office is in Northridge
Our office is at 19201 Parthenia Street, and our own crews do the work, so a Northridge charger visit is local. A charger estimate needs the panel label, the route from the panel to the parking spot, and what else the household is planning: a battery or more solar changes what the panel has to carry.
Our Northridge charger project
Five quotes for the same roof. Then five years of coming back.
A new roof in 2020, solar priced five ways and switched on in 2021, then an EV charger wired into the same service, across five years of return visits.
How a charger installation runs in Northridge
- Panel first. A load calculation on the panel as it is, including any derate made for solar.
- Charger and circuit chosen together: setting, breaker, wire, hardwired or outlet.
- LADBS permit, filed by us.
- Installation under our C-10 electrical license.
- Inspection, and the charger set up with your car.
Nearby. EV chargers in Granada Hills · Glendale · Simi Valley · All our Northridge projects
EV charger questions for Northridge
Does Cali Energy install EV chargers in Northridge?
Yes. Cali Energy is based in Northridge and installs Level 2 chargers here with the LADBS permit and inspection, on their own or on a solar house, under its C-10 electrical license. CSLB #1032379, 19201 Parthenia St, Northridge; call +1-323-844-7777.
Can I add a charger to a house that already has solar?
Yes. The charger's load calculation starts from the panel as it is, including any derate made for the solar. On our Northridge project the charger went into the same service the array runs on.
Will my Northridge panel take a Level 2 charger?
A load calculation answers it. When the panel cannot carry the charger beside the house's other loads, a panel upgrade comes first, under an LADBS permit.
Do I need a permit for an EV charger in Northridge?
Yes. A Level 2 charger is electrical work, permitted and inspected by LADBS in the City of Los Angeles; we file it.
Read next
Plan the charger with the panel in mind
Send a photo of your main panel's label and tell us where the car parks. We are in Northridge; we will tell you what circuit the charger needs, whether the panel can carry it, and how it fits with solar now or later.
Get a Northridge EV charger quote Call +1-323-844-7777
Cali Energy · Northridge, CA · cali-energy.com