Main panel upgrade in North Hollywood, CA
Cali Energy replaces main electrical panels in North Hollywood alongside solar and roofing. On a 2023 project the existing service could not take the backfeed of forty-two modules, so the panel was replaced in the same job as the array; on two houses in 2019 the panel upgrades ran on their own permits and both passed their finals by the end of August.
North Hollywood's houses date from the 1940s: the median single-family home was built in 1948, and 94.5% of the 14,748 before 1978. In Los Angeles a panel upgrade is its own scope with its own LADBS permit and inspection, even when the same crew does it on the same day as the array, and LADWP sets the meter position before the equipment is built. Cali Energy has carried North Hollywood panel upgrades through both.
How a panel upgrade runs in North Hollywood
- Two scopes, two permits. Solar and the panel it connects to are separate scopes under LADBS, each with its own permit and inspection. Passing one does not release the other. Solar and the panel it connects to are two permits
- The meter position comes first. LADWP sets where the meter goes before anything is built, and that decides where the new electrical equipment lives on the wall.
- The backfeed limit. The code caps the main breaker plus the solar breaker at 120% of the busbar rating. On our 2023 North Hollywood project forty-two modules exceeded what the old service could take, so the panel was replaced. Derate, new panel or service upgrade
- The houses. Median build year 1948; 88.8% of North Hollywood's single-family homes were built before 1960.
Two permits, closed together
In August 2019 we replaced the main panels on two North Hollywood houses alongside their arrays, with separate solar and panel-upgrade permits on each. On one, a 200-amp panel went in at the same location as the original, and at its final the inspector signed off both permits the same morning. On the other, the solar and panel inspections were closed in a single visit.
Panel, roof and array in one job
On our 2023 North Hollywood project the roof came first: twenty-eight squares torn off to the sheathing and replaced, then forty-two modules with a microinverter behind each and the main panel replaced in the same job, because the existing service could not take the backfeed. The utility had set the meter position in advance, so the new equipment went where it was going to stay. Roofing in North Hollywood
Our North Hollywood panel project
North Hollywood: forty-two modules up, then commissioning device by device.
The existing service could not take the backfeed of forty-two modules; the main panel was replaced in the same job, under a new roof, and every module has reported since.
Steps
- Check. Panel label, busbar rating, the meter and a load calculation against the array.
- LADWP meter spot set before the equipment is drawn.
- Permits with LADBS: the solar permit and the panel-upgrade permit, both on file before the finals.
- Installation under our C-10 electrical license, panel and array scheduled together.
- Finals on both permits, then LADWP sets the net meter and grants permission to operate.
Nearby. Main panel upgrades in Encino · Sun Valley · Burbank · All our North Hollywood projects
Panel upgrade questions for North Hollywood
Does Cali Energy do main panel upgrades in North Hollywood?
Yes. Cali Energy has replaced main panels on North Hollywood houses alongside solar, with separate LADBS permits for the panel and the array and LADWP's meter work, under its C-10 electrical license. CSLB #1032379, based in Northridge; call +1-323-844-7777.
Is a panel upgrade a separate permit from the solar?
Yes. In Los Angeles the panel upgrade is its own scope with its own permit and inspection, even when the same crew does both on the same day. On our 2019 North Hollywood projects both permits were on file and both finals passed.
Can the new panel go where the old one was?
It can. On one of our 2019 North Hollywood houses the new 200-amp panel went in at the same location as the original. LADWP's meter position decides it, and it is set before the equipment is drawn.
Can the panel, the roof and the solar be done together?
Yes. On our 2023 North Hollywood project the roof was replaced first, then the array went on and the main panel was replaced in the same job.
Read next
Find out what your North Hollywood panel can take
Send a photo of your main panel's label and a recent LADWP bill. We will tell you whether the panel can take what you are adding, or what replacing it involves, and how the two permits run.
Get a North Hollywood panel quote Call +1-323-844-7777
Cali Energy · Northridge, CA · cali-energy.com