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Collective Solar

Solar Service Areas: Greater Los Angeles & the Inland Empire

We work out of 9221 Corbin Ave #110 in Northridge and cover Greater Los Angeles and the Inland Empire — 48 cities across Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura counties. We've been installing, repairing, and servicing home solar here since 2010.

San Fernando Valley

Home turf. Most of the Valley is inside the City of Los Angeles and billed by LADWP, which runs its own net metering program rather than the CPUC's NEM 3.0 rules. The exceptions matter: Burbank and Glendale run their own utilities, and the City of San Fernando, Calabasas and Hidden Hills are on Edison.

Our home base Northridge Where our office is. CSUN-area neighborhoods, postwar ranch homes, LADWP net metering — and the city we know street by street. LADWP Granada Hills Ranch homes along the Balboa Blvd corridor and hillside houses up toward O'Melveny Park — two very different solar designs. LADWP Encino Larger lots, pools, and bigger square footage south of Ventura Blvd mean higher usage — and more room for solar to pay off. LADWP Woodland Hills The hottest corner of the Valley. When AC runs from May to October, solar has the most work to do — and the most to save. LADWP Sherman Oaks Flats north of Ventura Blvd and hillside streets to the south, both on LADWP's own net metering program. LADWP West Hills The Valley's quiet western edge — single-family neighborhoods with the long, sunny afternoons that suit west-facing roofs. LADWP Van Nuys The Valley's civic core, full of postwar single-family homes with simple composition-shingle roofs — straightforward installs. Burbank Water and Power Burbank Served by its own municipal utility, Burbank Water and Power, with its own solar interconnection rules — we handle them. Glendale Water and Power Glendale Glendale Water and Power territory, from Adams Hill to the Verdugo foothills. Municipal utility, separate program, same process from us. LADWP Winnetka Right across Corbin Ave from our office. Most homes here date from the 1950s, so the roof and the main electrical panel get checked before anything goes up. LADWP · some hill areas on Edison Chatsworth Horse lots with room for a ground-mounted array, 1960s–70s houses, and fire rules on the hillsides near Stoney Point. A few canyon communities past the city line are on Edison. LADWP Porter Ranch Listed in the city's Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, so the roof and the array both need a Class A fire rating. Tracts built from about 1960 into the 2000s. LADWP Reseda Three kinds of roof in one neighborhood: 1910s–20s cottages, postwar ranch tracts and a 1950s tract of modern houses. One utility and one permit office for all of them. LADWP Canoga Park August highs average 97°F at the nearby Pierce College weather station, about 13 degrees hotter than downtown. Every design here starts with the heat. LADWP North Hills Called Sepulveda until it was renamed — farmland that turned suburban in the 1950s, on level ground between Bull Creek and the Pacoima Wash. LADWP Tarzana Two places in one: level flats north of Ventura Blvd, and hillside to the south climbing toward Mulholland, much of it in a very high fire hazard zone. LADWP Mission Hills LADWP on the Los Angeles side of the line. The City of San Fernando next door is on Edison, so near the border we confirm your utility before anything else. Southern California Edison San Fernando Its own city since 1911, surrounded by Los Angeles but on Edison, not LADWP. Permits come from San Fernando City Hall, not the LA building department. Edison + Clean Power Alliance Calabasas Its own city: Edison delivers the power and Clean Power Alliance supplies it. High fire-hazard mapping and shutoff-prone circuits make a battery worth a real look. LADWP Lake Balboa Part of Van Nuys until 2007. Flat, central and outside every fire hazard zone, so the design comes down to the house: its roof and its electrical panel. LADWP Panorama City One of Southern California's first master-planned suburbs, begun in 1947. Most homes are now apartments, so the first question is whose roof it is. LADWP Valley Glen City of Los Angeles even when the envelope says Van Nuys or North Hollywood. No fire hazard zone; the roof's age and the electrical panel drive the design. LADWP Arleta A street grid turned about 45 degrees, so few roofs face due south. Mostly 1950s houses, designed around the roof planes each house actually has. LADWP · San Fernando edge on Edison Pacoima City of LA and LADWP, but the City of San Fernando, on Edison, borders the northwest side, and a strip of Pacoima shares its ZIP code. LADWP Sylmar Four kinds of job: postwar ranch houses, foothill homes in a fire zone, horse properties, and about 1,600 mobile homes that bring the park's rules too. LADWP Valley Village Mostly pre-1960 houses, but two of every three homes are in buildings of five or more units, and nearly all of it sits under its own specific plan. LADWP North Hollywood Mostly renters and apartment buildings. From three units up the Fire Department reviews the plans; Burbank's utility starts at the Clybourn Ave city line. LADWP · check the bill near Burbank Sun Valley Plants and warehouses on a quarter of the land, 1940s–50s houses on the rest, and a very high fire zone on the hillside above Glenoaks Blvd. LADWP Studio City Flats north of Ventura Blvd around the old Mack Sennett studio lot; to the south, hillside up to Mulholland that is nearly all mapped very high for fire. LADWP · Kagel Canyon on Edison Lake View Terrace 1950s–60s tract houses west of Osborne St, bigger horse lots to the east rated very high for fire, and Edison once you head up Kagel Canyon Road. LADWP Sunland-Tujunga Between the San Gabriel and Verdugo mountains: almost half the houses in a very high fire zone and all in a high-wind area, which shapes the battery case. LADWP Shadow Hills Lots around 20,000 sq ft, nearly all zoned for horses, so the array can go in the yard. Most of the neighborhood is mapped very high for fire. LADWP · Burbank side on BWP Toluca Lake An LA neighborhood on LADWP, but the Burbank city line runs down its east side. Across it, Burbank Water and Power and Burbank's permits apply. Southern California Edison Hidden Hills A gated city on a single Edison circuit. Three sign-offs before panels switch on: the community association, a city permit, and Edison.

Ventura County

West of the San Fernando Valley over the Santa Susana Pass. Edison delivers the power here, and the city we cover buys its generation through Clean Power Alliance.

Why your utility matters more than your ZIP code

The single biggest factor in what solar is worth at your address is not the city on your mail — it's who bills you for electricity, because that determines how the power you export gets credited.

Southern California Edison is investor-owned and regulated by the CPUC, so its customers fall under the net billing tariff commonly called NEM 3.0. Municipal utilities are not bound by that decision and set their own rules: LADWP across most of the Valley, plus Burbank Water and Power, Glendale Water and Power, Pasadena Water and Power, and Riverside Public Utilities. Those are genuinely different programs, not variations on a theme.

One LADWP rule to know before you sign anything: LADWP allows a solar lease on its own terms, but not a power purchase agreement, because only LADWP may sell its customers electricity. The details, and how LADWP credits the power you send back, are in our guide does NEM 3.0 apply to LADWP customers?

Three cities on this list are split. In Moreno Valley and Rancho Cucamonga, a city-run utility serves part of the city and Edison serves the rest. In Corona, a small municipal utility covers a few developments while Edison covers everything else. In those places two neighbors a mile apart can be on completely different programs — which is why we confirm the utility for your specific address before we quote anything, rather than assuming from the city name.

Downey, Whittier, Calabasas and Simi Valley add one more wrinkle: Edison still delivers the power and owns the interconnection, but Clean Power Alliance supplies the generation, so the credits and the delivery charges come from two different entities on one bill.

Not sure where to start? See how a solar installation project runs end to end, or — if you already have panels that aren't performing — solar repair is where we do work most companies won't touch, including systems whose original installer went out of business.

Get a free estimate for your city

Tell us your address and we'll run the numbers for your utility, your roof, and your actual usage. No pressure, no obligation.