Solar panels in Mission Hills
Solar panels in Mission Hills should be designed around LADWP, because Mission Hills is a neighborhood of the City of Los Angeles and LADWP is the city's utility. The catch is the City of San Fernando next door. It is a separate city on Southern California Edison's grid, and near the line between the two, a mailing address can point you the wrong way. We confirm the utility and the permit office for your address first, then design the system and handle the permit and utility paperwork from our Northridge office.
LADWP or Edison? Check the bill, not the address
Here the names mislead before any address does. Mission San Fernando Rey de España, founded on September 8, 1797, is not in the City of San Fernando. Its address, 15151 San Fernando Mission Boulevard, lies inside the City of Los Angeles, less than half a mile from the Pico Adobe on Sepulveda Boulevard, whose oldest part was built about 1834.
Street addresses play the same trick. Homes along Acala and Rincon avenues share the 91340 ZIP code of San Fernando City Hall, and the Census Bureau's geocoder even labels them "San Fernando." Yet it places those blocks inside the City of Los Angeles. Even so, the state's utility map shows parts of Acala and Rincon on Edison rather than LADWP, and a block or two to the northeast the City of San Fernando begins. If you live near that edge, the utility name printed on your bill is what settles it.
Which side of the line you are on changes almost every part of the project:
| What changes | Mission Hills (City of Los Angeles) | City of San Fernando |
|---|---|---|
| Electric utility | LADWP, owned by the city | Southern California Edison |
| Credit for power you export | LADWP's own net energy metering program | The CPUC's net billing tariff, for systems that applied to connect on or after April 15, 2023 |
| Solar permit | LADBS, which issues permits for qualifying rooftop systems online with no plan check | The Community Development Department at City Hall, with instant online permits through Symbium |
| Adding a battery | Even on the online express route, the battery needs its own Los Angeles Fire Department plan check and permit | The city's permit page names battery storage alongside solar for instant Symbium permits |
| Interconnection application | Filed with LADWP | Filed with Edison |
LADWP is city-owned and sets its own net metering rules; the CPUC tariff that governs Edison does not reach it. Our LADWP net metering explainer shows how the utility credits the power your roof exports.
On the Edison side, a new system's exports usually earn less than the retail rate, so the case for a battery can change within a few blocks. Our solar battery guide for Los Angeles sets the two utilities side by side, and our San Fernando solar page covers homes on the Edison side of the line.
Designing for Mission Hills' 1950s houses
In 91345, the ZIP code that carries the Mission Hills name, the median home was built in 1959, according to the Census Bureau's American Community Survey for 2020 to 2024. Nearly half of the homes there went up in the 1950s alone, and about four in five were built before 1980. Roughly seven in ten are detached single-family houses.
That age shows up in the electrical panel first. A service panel as old as the house was never meant to feed central air, an electric car charger and a solar array at the same time. We read the panel's rating and spare capacity before sizing anything, and when it falls short, an electrical panel upgrade becomes part of the same job.
The panel's rating also helps decide how LADBS handles the permit. On a single house or a duplex, LADBS issues permits for rooftop solar online, with no plan check, when the system is 10 kW or less and the service panel is rated 225 amps or less, among other limits. A new 200-amp panel still fits under that ceiling. A larger service, or a system over 10 kW, goes to plan check instead. Even on the online route, a battery also needs a fire plan check and permit from the Los Angeles Fire Department.
Next, look at the roof, and judge it by the year it was last replaced, not the year the house went up. An array is a multi-decade tenant, so a tired roof is better redone before the array moves in. LADBS's express re-roof permit adds a condition here: once a re-roof covers more than half the roof area, the new covering must be a product certified by the Cool Roof Rating Council, which narrows the roofing you can choose before panels go on top. Panels already up on a roof that has failed? The array has to come off before the roofer starts and go back on after, which is the job of our panel removal and reinstall service.
What we handle, from your first bill to switch-on
We start with two documents: your electric bill and your parcel record. The bill shows whether LADWP or Edison serves the house. The parcel shows whether LADBS or San Fernando City Hall issues the permit. From there we design around your actual usage, prepare the permit and interconnection paperwork, and follow both approvals until the system is cleared to switch on. Our solar installation page walks through each of those stages in order. Thinking about a lease instead of buying? LADWP sets its own terms for solar leases, so read what LADWP allows in a solar contract before you sign one.
Already have panels on the roof? Our solar repair service works on systems another company put in, including ones whose original installer has since closed.
If you last priced solar before 2026, rerun the numbers: the federal residential tax credit for buying a system ended on December 31, 2025. What changed with the solar tax credit in 2026 explains where that leaves homeowners now.
Mission Hills sits across the 405 from our Northridge office. We also have pages for its neighbors: solar in Granada Hills to the west, solar in North Hills, and solar in San Fernando to the northeast. For other areas, see every city and neighborhood we serve.
Mission Hills solar questions
Which utility serves Mission Hills, LADWP or Edison?
LADWP. Mission Hills is a neighborhood of the City of Los Angeles, and LADWP is the city-owned utility that serves it. The City of San Fernando, which borders Mission Hills to the northeast, is served by Southern California Edison instead. Some Los Angeles homes near that border share San Fernando's 91340 ZIP code, so go by the utility name on your bill rather than the city on your envelope.
Is a new solar system in Mission Hills under NEM 3.0?
Not if LADWP serves the house. The net billing tariff most people call NEM 3.0 is a CPUC rule for the large investor-owned utilities, Edison among them. LADWP, a city department rather than an investor-owned company, credits solar exports under its own Net Energy Metering Rider. If your bill says Edison, net billing applies to a new system. Our LADWP net metering guide explains the LADWP side.
Where do Mission Hills solar permits come from?
The Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, known as LADBS. On a house or duplex, rooftop solar of up to 10 kW can be permitted online without plan check if the service panel is rated 225 amps or less and the equipment meets the department's other limits. A system that misses any of those limits needs plan check, and a battery needs a Los Angeles Fire Department plan check and permit even on the online route. A parcel inside the City of San Fernando gets its permit from that city's Community Development Department instead.
Can a 1950s Mission Hills house take solar?
Yes, if two things check out. The main electrical panel needs room for the array plus loads such as central air or an EV charger, and the roof needs enough life left that it won't have to come off soon after the panels go on. We check both at the site visit and tell you before anything is signed if either one needs work first.
How do I choose the best solar company in Mission Hills?
Whoever you hire, put the same three questions to each company. Did they confirm from your bill whether LADWP or Edison serves your address, and design for that utility's rules? Do they know whether your permit comes from LADBS or from San Fernando City Hall? Who repairs the system if something fails after it is running? Then read reviews from homeowners, not just the star average. Collective Solar's Google rating is 4.8 from 50 reviews.
Solar in Mission Hills, by the numbers
Solar contractors pulled 907 permits on houses in Mission Hills between January 2013 and May 2023, with the most in 2021.
907
solar permits on houses, January 2013 to May 2023
2021
the busiest year, with 143 permits
107
permits in 2022, the last full year the City has published
| Year | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Permits | 48 | 58 | 107 | 98 | 66 | 61 | 53 | 136 | 143 | 107 | 30 |
*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 Mission Hills 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 in Mission Hills
Share your address and one recent electric bill. We'll confirm the utility and the permit office for that parcel before we design anything.