Solar panels in Reseda
Solar panels in Reseda can mean three very different roofs, all described in the City's 2015 historic survey: a small cluster of 1910s and 1920s cottages near Reseda Boulevard and Sherman Way, the ranch tracts built after World War II, and a 1950s tract of modern houses with flat or angled roofs. All of them are on LADWP and permitted by LADBS. Our office at 9221 Corbin Ave #110 is a short drive north on Corbin Avenue, the street that forms Reseda's western edge.
Reseda's houses, era by era, and what each means for solar
Reseda began in 1912 as a farm town called Marian, joined the City of Los Angeles in 1915 and took its garden-plant name in 1921. Its population went from 3,725 in 1940 to 14,810 in 1950, and the City's survey found that most homes in this part of the Valley date from the postwar era.
The survey draws Reseda as the grid between Roscoe and Victory boulevards and Corbin and White Oak avenues, with Lake Balboa to the east and the Sepulveda Basin just past the corner of Victory and White Oak. Reseda mailing addresses also reach a little south of Victory.
| House type | Where you find it | What it changes for solar |
|---|---|---|
| 1910s–1920s Craftsman cottages and Spanish Colonial Revival houses | A small cluster just southwest of Reseda Boulevard and Sherman Way, plus a few on big lots that were probably small farms | If the roof is clay tile, it takes tile-specific mounts and careful handling. Lifting the tiles to lay new underlayment and resetting them needs only an LADBS express permit |
| Postwar ranch tracts, such as Tampa Country Estates (1955–56) | Across much of Reseda's grid; Tampa Country Estates sits just south of Victory Boulevard, between Corbin and Tampa avenues, down to Topham Street | Ranch roofs are usually low and simple to lay out, but the clear access paths the Fire Department requires up to the ridge and beside hips take a bigger share of a small roof. Those path rules exempt a detached garage, and the survey found both detached and attached garages in this tract |
| 1953–54 modern houses by architect Edward Fickett, in Meadowlark Park | Roughly the blocks framed by Stagg and Keswick streets, Lull Street, and Lindley and Yarmouth avenues | Flat roofs take tilted or low-profile racking and keep a 3-foot path clear along their edges; angled roof planes may face east or west instead of south |
| Houses on leftover farm-era lots | Scattered; the survey found large lots surviving in several parts of Reseda | Room for a ground-mounted array, which needs a 10-foot clear, brush-free area and a fire department review in a yard |
What we check on a Reseda roof before placing panels
The City's survey points out that the 1994 Northridge earthquake was centered directly beneath Reseda, not Northridge. It says the most common damage to houses here was fallen chimneys and cracked or shifted porches, and that replacement chimneys are common across Reseda as a result.
A chimney's shadow moves across the roof through the day and stretches farthest in winter, when the sun sits low, so we map it before placing panels. Microinverters or optimizers keep one shaded panel from dragging down the rest. We also check the seal where the chimney meets the roof, since that joint is hard to reach once panels surround it.
Street trees are the other shade source. The survey recorded unusually large evergreen street trees on Etiwanda Avenue from a 1948 subdivision, and deodar cedars and fan palms planted along Sherman Way in 1911 between Corbin and Vanalden avenues. Pruning or removing a parkway tree can take a permit from the City's Urban Forestry Division, which denies a removal when the tree can be saved by changing the design. So we design around the tree instead.
The roofing matters too. LADBS's solar bulletin lets a flush-mounted array on a house skip the separate building permit only if, among other conditions, the roof has one layer of roofing and the panels cover no more than half of the total roof area. A roof re-covered over old shingles, or an array covering more than half the roof, goes to building plan check instead. The electrical permit is required either way.
If the roof is near the end of its life, replace it first. When more than half of a house's roof is replaced, the City's express re-roof permit calls for a cool-roof product carrying a Cool Roof Rating Council label. Panels already on a roof that needs work? That is our panel removal and reinstall service.
Your electrical panel, LADWP and the City permit
If your electrical panel is the one the house was built with, it was sized for the appliances of its day, not for central air, a car charger and a solar array. The electrical code's 120% rule sets the limit. The main breaker plus 125% of the solar output current can't add up to more than 120% of the rating of the panel's bus bar, the metal strip the breakers plug into, and the solar breaker has to sit at the far end of that bar from the main. On a 100-amp panel with a 100-amp main breaker, that leaves room for a 20-amp solar breaker, which only fits a small system.
The usual ways through it are a smaller array, a main breaker turned down after a load calculation, a connection on the utility side of the main breaker, or a new panel. We price each one before recommending an electrical panel upgrade.
LADWP is a city-owned utility that runs its own net energy metering program, so the CPUC's NEM 3.0 rules for Edison customers don't govern a Reseda system. How LADWP credits the power you send back, and what that means for sizing, is covered in our guide to LADWP solar net metering.
Permits come from LADBS, the City's building department, whose nearest counter is in the Braude Building at 6262 Van Nuys Boulevard, open by appointment. A simple rooftop system of 10 kW or less, on a service panel rated 225 amps or less, can be permitted online if it meets LADBS's other limits; bigger or more complex designs go to plan check. Even on the online path, a battery paired with the panels goes to the Fire Department for its own plan check. LADWP's interconnection approval is a separate application, and LADBS says it will not refer you to LADWP. We handle the permit paperwork and the LADWP application for you.
Backup power deserves a real look here. On September 6, 2020, LADWP said heavy power use in a heat storm overheated neighborhood equipment and caused more than 200 small outages across the city; its 9 p.m. update listed about 5,400 Reseda customers without power. A grid-tied array switches off with the grid, so if you want the refrigerator running through an outage, put a battery in the quote. Our guide to whether a solar battery is worth it in Los Angeles explains why, on LADWP, that is mostly a backup decision.
Own a shop in the old business district around Reseda Boulevard and Sherman Way? A store open in daylight uses solar power as it is made, and the federal tax credit for business solar is still available in 2026, with deadlines attached; see our commercial solar page. Existing system not producing? Our solar repair service covers systems no matter who installed them.
Just over the line? See solar in Northridge, north across Roscoe; solar in Tarzana, south across Victory; and solar in Winnetka, west across Corbin — or every neighborhood on our service areas page.
Reseda solar questions
Is Reseda served by LADWP or Southern California Edison?
LADWP. Reseda, then called Marian, became part of the City of Los Angeles in 1915, and the city's Department of Water and Power supplies its electricity. LADWP runs its own net energy metering program, so the CPUC's NEM 3.0 rules for Edison customers don't set the terms here.
My house still has its original 1950s electrical panel. Can it handle solar?
It depends on the panel. The electrical code's 120% rule caps how much solar current a panel's bus bar can take on top of the main breaker, so a small original panel may only fit a small system. A derated main breaker, a utility-side connection or a new panel can open up room, and we price each option before recommending one.
Can I trim or remove the street tree that shades my roof?
Pruning or removing a parkway street tree in Los Angeles can require a permit from the Urban Forestry Division of the Bureau of Street Services, which denies removals when a tree can be kept by changing the design. Plan the array around it instead: another roof plane, the garage roof, or module-level electronics that limit what a shaded panel costs the rest.
Does a roof with two layers of shingles change the solar permit?
Yes. LADBS lets a flush-mounted array on a house skip the separate building permit only when the roof has a single layer of roofing and meets its other conditions. With a second layer, the structural side goes to plan check, and it is worth asking whether the roof should be replaced before the panels go on.
How do I choose the best solar company in Reseda?
Compare them on three Reseda specifics. The quote should be built for LADWP's own net metering program, not Edison's NEM 3.0 rules. Ask who handles the LADBS permit and the separate LADWP interconnection application, because LADBS does not pass a job to LADWP for you. And ask who will service the system in later years, even if the company that installed it closes. Collective Solar designs for LADWP, handles both sets of paperwork, and services systems no matter who installed them, from 9221 Corbin Ave #110 in Northridge. Our Google rating is 4.8 from 50 reviews.
Solar in Reseda, by the numbers
Solar contractors pulled 1,897 permits on houses in Reseda between January 2013 and May 2023, with the most in 2021.
1,897
solar permits on houses, January 2013 to May 2023
2021
the busiest year, with 295 permits
166
permits in 2022, the last full year the City has published
| Year | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Permits | 117 | 100 | 215 | 266 | 142 | 179 | 173 | 200 | 295 | 166 | 44 |
*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 Reseda 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.
See what solar can do on your Reseda roof
Send us your address and a recent LADWP bill. We look at the roof, any chimney or street tree, and your electrical panel, then show you the real numbers.