How much do solar panels produce in Porter Ranch?
Cali Energy measured 19 solar systems it installed in Porter Ranch (ZIP code 91326): in 2023–2025 their panels produced a median of 1,524 kWh per kilowatt a year. That is 11% more than the 97 systems it monitors in the rest of the San Fernando Valley and Burbank, at 1,377 (95% interval for the gap: 8% to 18%). The comparison describes these installations; it does not isolate the effect of location. For illustration, that median applied to a 7.4 kW system, the typical size among the 19, gives about 11,300 kWh a year.
Month by month
Median kWh per kW of panels in each month, 2023–2025: 43 Porter Ranch system-years, 210 elsewhere in the Valley and Burbank.
| Month | Porter Ranch, kWh per kW | Rest of the Valley and Burbank | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 90.5 | 76.9 | +18% |
| February | 94.7 | 86.3 | +10% |
| March | 126.0 | 118.7 | +6% |
| April | 146.3 | 141.2 | +4% |
| May | 150.2 | 138.4 | +8% |
| June | 159.1 | 143.2 | +11% |
| July | 171.2 | 156.1 | +10% |
| August | 157.7 | 142.6 | +11% |
| September | 126.5 | 113.8 | +11% |
| October | 121.5 | 105.1 | +16% |
| November | 88.5 | 75.6 | +17% |
| December | 82.9 | 67.9 | +22% |
The monitored Porter Ranch systems made more in every month. The gap was widest in December, 22%, and January, 18%, and narrowest in April, 4%. July was the best month at 171 kWh per kW; December, at 83, gave 48% of July.
Seasonal shares differed modestly: May to July brought 31.9% of a Porter Ranch system’s year and December to February 17.9%, against 32.4% and 16.9% elsewhere in the Valley.
The gap persists within platforms and newer systems
| Group | Porter Ranch: systems · kWh per kW | Rest of the Valley: systems · kWh per kW | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| SolarEdge systems | 11 · 1,524 | 36 · 1,335 | +14% |
| Enphase systems | 8 · 1,527 | 61 · 1,381 | +11% |
| Installed in 2021 or later | 12 · 1,557 | 67 · 1,377 | +13% |
| Enphase systems in both groups carry the same ratio of panel to inverter capacity, 1.28. | |||
These checks do not establish why the two groups differ: roof orientation, tilt and shading are not in the monitoring data. Porter Ranch lies at the north-west edge of the Valley against the Santa Susana Mountains, and its figure is closer to the 11 systems monitored in the Santa Clarita Valley, at 1,514, than to the Valley floor.
Year by year
kWh per kW of panels, systems with a full year. Each year counts only the systems with a full year, so the yearly medians and the all-years median above come from different sets of systems.
| Year | Porter Ranch: systems · middle half · median | Rest of the Valley and Burbank: systems · median |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 11 · 1,487–1,565 · 1,513 | 59 · 1,377 |
| 2024 | 14 · 1,452–1,537 · 1,508 | 75 · 1,348 |
| 2025 | 18 · 1,486–1,592 · 1,537 | 76 · 1,377 |
The five Porter Ranch systems with full years since 2020 followed the same weather as the rest of Los Angeles: their median rose to 1,672 in 2022, fell to 1,473 in 2024 and came back to 1,538 in 2025. See solar production year to year.
Porter Ranch and the rest of the Valley
San Fernando Valley places with five or more Cali Energy systems with full years, 2023–2025.
| Place | Monitored systems | Median kWh per kW a year |
|---|---|---|
| Porter Ranch | 19 | 1,524 |
| Northridge | 10 | 1,425 |
| Woodland Hills | 8 | 1,412 |
| Winnetka | 5 | 1,382 |
| Chatsworth | 6 | 1,350 |
| North Hills | 6 | 1,297 |
| North Hollywood | 10 | 1,294 |
| Tarzana | 5 | 1,290 |
| Valley Glen | 5 | 1,282 |
| Encino | 5 | 1,223 |
| Each row is the median of Cali Energy’s own installations in that place: not a random sample, not adjusted for roof direction, tilt or shade, and not a ranking of places. The 95% intervals on these pages are computed for each place separately, without adjustment for multiple comparisons. Solar production by area. | ||
For a Porter Ranch homeowner
Annual energy-equivalent size. Dividing a year’s electricity use by about 1,520 gives the kilowatts of panels whose 2023–2025 output would have matched it on these systems: 10,000 kWh a year comes to about 6.6 kW. The roof, future load and the tariff decide the actual size.
Checking your own system. Compare your system’s median full year over 2023–2025 with the middle half of the monitored Porter Ranch systems, 1,488–1,577 kWh per kW. For a single year, use that year’s range: 1,487–1,565 in 2023, 1,452–1,537 in 2024, 1,486–1,592 in 2025. A figure below the range is a prompt to look at shade, soiling and monitoring, not a diagnosis. See monthly production in Los Angeles.
The utility. Porter Ranch is in the City of Los Angeles, so its rooftop systems connect to LADWP. Solar with LADWP.
Installations here. Our Porter Ranch projects.
Methodology
- Sample
- Solar systems in ZIP code 91326 installed and monitored by Cali Energy, on SolarEdge or Enphase monitoring: 19 systems, installed from 2018 to 2024, 6.4 to 9.9 kW DC in the middle half. The sample is drawn by ZIP code, not by the neighborhood boundary.
- Comparison
- The rest of the San Fernando Valley means the Valley and Burbank ZIP codes other than 91326: 97 systems.
- Years
- Full calendar years 2023–2025 with all twelve months reporting, under the rules of the platform comparison.
- Downtime
- Each system’s benchmark is the median of its full years 2019–2025; a 2023–2025 year below 75% of it counts as downtime and is left out. None of the Porter Ranch years were, and 3 of 213 elsewhere in the Valley; without the rule the medians are 1,524 and 1,377.
- Output
- kWh per kW of DC panel capacity. Each system’s figure is the median of its full years; a place’s figure is the median across its systems. Across all 257 systems on real-world solar production in Los Angeles the same method gives 1,382; that page’s headline 1,386 is the median of their 569 system-years. Months are medians of all system-months.
- Interval
- 95% interval of the gap from 4,000 bootstrap resamples of systems, each system keeping its years together. Each place’s interval is computed on its own, without adjustment for comparing several places.
- Threshold
- Figures for fewer than five systems are not published.
https://cali-energy.com/research/cities/porter-ranch. Aggregated data are free to use under CC BY 4.0 with a link to this page.Frequently asked questions
How much electricity do solar panels produce in Porter Ranch?
On the 19 Porter Ranch systems Cali Energy monitors, a median of 1,524 kWh per kW of panels a year in 2023–2025. For illustration, that median applied to a 7.4 kW system, the typical size among them, gives about 11,300 kWh a year.
Did the monitored Porter Ranch systems outperform the rest of the Valley?
Yes, in this sample. In 2023–2025 the 19 Porter Ranch systems Cali Energy monitors produced a median 11% more per kW than its 97 systems elsewhere in the San Fernando Valley and Burbank (95% interval 8%–18%). It is an observational comparison, not proof that location alone made the difference.
What is the best month for solar in Porter Ranch?
On the monitored Porter Ranch systems, July, at a median of 171 kWh per kW; December was the lowest at 83, 48% of July.
Who measured these systems?
Cali Energy, a licensed solar contractor based in Northridge (CSLB #1032379), which installed and monitors them; the method is set out above.
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Prepared by Cali Energy, October 20, 2026. Figures describe systems in our monitoring fleet and are not a guarantee of what any specific roof will produce; orientation, tilt, shade, equipment and weather change results. Not engineering, financial or utility advice. See our Content Disclaimer.