Solar panels in Lake View Terrace
Solar panels in Lake View Terrace go onto two very different kinds of lot. West of Osborne Street sits a diagonal grid of tract houses, most from the 1950s and 1960s. East of it, out toward Sunland, the lots get bigger, many are zoned for horses, and CAL FIRE's 2025 map rates most of them Very High for fire hazard. That split sets the roof rules and where panels can go. LADWP serves the neighborhood; up Kagel Canyon Road, outside the city, Edison does.
Tract house or horse property: where the panels can go
The City's 1997 community plan notes that most of Lake View Terrace's streets run on a diagonal, unlike the compass-point grid in Sunland and Tujunga. A house set square to a diagonal street has roof planes facing southeast, southwest, northeast or northwest rather than due south, so the layout favors whichever plane gets the most unshaded sun.
In census tract 1041.03, wholly inside the grid, the Census Bureau's 2020 to 2024 estimates put the median home's construction year at 1965, and the 1960s built more of its homes than any other decade. At that age, check the main panel's spare capacity first; if it falls short, an electrical panel upgrade can join the same project.
East of Osborne, many lots carry a K in their zoning, the mark of the City's equestrian districts, which the community plan sets out to protect. County assessor parcel maps show most of those K lots are more than twice the size of a typical tract lot. That leaves room for panels on a barn or stable roof, or on a ground rack aimed due south.
California's building code places barns and stables in Group U, and LAFD Requirement No. 96, the Fire Department's solar standard, exempts detached Group U buildings that no one lives in from its rooftop access paths. Panels set in a yard get a Fire Department review before the permit is issued. In a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, both need at least 10 feet around the array cleared of weeds and dead material, with vegetation held to 3 inches or less, and LAFD may require a 20-foot access road. LADBS's online permit covers only rooftop systems on a house or duplex, so barn and ground arrays go to plan check.
Fire hazard zones, the Creek Fire and your roof
CAL FIRE's incident record places the start of the Creek Fire on Kagel Canyon Road, north of Lake View Terrace, on December 5, 2017. It burned 15,619 acres and destroyed 123 structures.
CAL FIRE issued new hazard maps for Los Angeles in March 2025, and the Fire Department's fire-zone page tells residents to look up a property on the state's map. Laid over county parcel records, that map rates more than half of Lake View Terrace's houses Very High: most lots east of Osborne, and a patchwork in the tract grid, where some houses fall outside every zone. State law requires the City to adopt the map by ordinance, and the City may add to it but not lower it. The City's own older Very High map takes in every house east of Osborne but traces different blocks in the grid, so ask LADBS which zone applies before you re-roof or file for solar.
LADBS requires a Class A roof covering on a re-roof in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, and the state residential code holds roofing in every hazard zone to the California Wildland-Urban Interface Code too. If your roof is near the end of its life, re-roof first and mount the array once. Panels already on a worn roof? Our panel removal and reinstall service lifts them for the roofer and sets them back.
Panels and racking face their own fire test. The state residential code requires a rooftop system to carry a fire classification under UL 2703, and LADBS's solar bulletin adds that wherever a Class A roof is required, the panels and racking must be rated Class A too. Ask to see that rating on the quote.
The CPUC's High Fire Threat District map puts nearly every house east of Osborne Street in Tier 2, along with more than a third of the houses west of it, a few of those in Tier 3. LADWP's 2025 wildfire mitigation plan says it has no protocol for cutting power in advance of high fire risk, though it may de-energize a line during a fire or another specific threat. A standard grid-tied array shuts off with the grid, so outage protection takes a battery set up for backup. Our guide to solar batteries in Los Angeles explains why, on LADWP, backup is the main reason to buy one.
LADWP in the city, Edison up Kagel Canyon
Lake View Terrace is part of the City of Los Angeles, and the California Energy Commission's utility map places it in LADWP territory. LADWP credits exports under its own net metering program, not the CPUC's NEM 3.0 rules, and you can buy a system or lease one on LADWP's terms; our LADWP solar net metering guide explains both.
Kagel Canyon, just north, is unincorporated county land, and the Energy Commission's map shows Edison there. On October 30, 2019, Los Angeles County Public Works told Kagel Canyon residents that Edison had de-energized its Lopez circuit, which it said powers all of Kagel Canyon, during a Public Safety Power Shutoff. Kagel Canyon addresses share the 91342 ZIP code with most of Lake View Terrace, so trust the utility on your bill. A new system on an Edison home falls under the CPUC's net billing tariff, and Los Angeles County Public Works, not LADBS, issues its permit.
On the city side, LADBS issues permits, and its nearest counter is in Van Nuys. It grants an express permit online, without plan check, when a rooftop array on a one- or two-family home is 10 kW or less, runs on 120/240-volt single-phase service and connects to a service panel rated 225 amps or less, among other limits. A battery also goes to the Fire Department for its own plan check. For a solar installation, we design the system and assemble the LADBS permit package and the LADWP interconnection application.
Panels already up but no longer producing? Our solar repair service takes on systems that other companies put in. Next door, see solar in Pacoima to the west, solar in Sylmar to the northwest, solar in Sunland-Tujunga to the east and solar in Shadow Hills to the southeast, or every neighborhood on our Southern California service areas page.
Lake View Terrace solar questions
Is Lake View Terrace served by LADWP or Southern California Edison?
LADWP. Lake View Terrace is part of the City of Los Angeles, and the Energy Commission's utility map puts it in LADWP territory. Kagel Canyon, just north and outside the city, is on Edison's grid but shares the 91342 ZIP code, so go by the utility printed on your bill.
How do I find out if my Lake View Terrace lot is in a fire hazard zone?
Search the address on the state's Fire Hazard Severity Zone map, as the Los Angeles Fire Department's fire-zone page advises. On CAL FIRE's 2025 map, most lots east of Osborne Street are Very High and the tract grid varies block by block. The City's older Very High map differs in places, so confirm with LADBS; in the Very High zone, a re-roof must be Class A.
Can I put solar panels on my barn or on the ground instead of the house?
It can work on the larger horse-zoned lots, most of which are more than twice the size of a tract lot. LAFD exempts detached Group U buildings no one lives in, a class the state building code says includes barns and stables, from its rooftop access paths. A ground array gets a Fire Department review, either one needs at least 10 feet of cleared ground around it in a Very High zone, and both go to LADBS plan check.
Does LADWP shut off power in Lake View Terrace during fire weather?
Not in advance, according to LADWP's 2025 wildfire mitigation plan: it may cut power during a fire or another specific threat, and in fire threat districts it patrols the whole circuit before restoring it. The plan adds that an Edison shutoff may reach LADWP customers on the fringe of Edison's territory. Edison cut Kagel Canyon's circuit in an October 2019 Public Safety Power Shutoff. Without a battery, a standard array shuts off in any outage.
How do I choose the best solar company in Lake View Terrace?
Put the same Lake View Terrace questions to every company. Did it look up your lot's fire hazard zone, and if the lot is Very High, does the quote specify a Class A-rated array and, for a ground rack, the cleared ring LAFD requires? Is the savings math built on LADWP's program, or on Edison's net billing if you live up Kagel Canyon? On horse property, did it weigh the house roof against a barn or a ground rack? Who files the permit and utility application, and who services the system later? Collective Solar handles that paperwork, repairs systems other companies installed, and carries a 4.8-star Google rating across 50 reviews.
Solar in Lake View Terrace, by the numbers
Solar contractors pulled 1,034 permits on houses in the Foothill Trails District (Lake View Terrace, Shadow Hills and La Tuna Canyon) between January 2013 and May 2023, with the most in 2021.
1,034
solar permits on houses, January 2013 to May 2023
2021
the busiest year, with 190 permits
132
permits in 2022, the last full year the City has published
| Year | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Permits | 58 | 56 | 87 | 122 | 78 | 77 | 92 | 107 | 190 | 132 | 35 |
*January to May 19. Source: City of Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety electrical permits, through May 19, 2023, the latest the City has published. Counts permits on one- and two-family homes pulled by solar contractors inside the Foothill Trails District neighborhood council boundary. A permit is not a home: one job can need more than one permit, and solar put in by general electricians isn't counted, so read these as a measure of activity, not a count of homes.
Get a free solar estimate for your Lake View Terrace lot
Send your address and a recent electric bill. We check the fire zone, zoning and utility, then weigh the house roof against any barn or ground option.