Solar panels in Tarzana

Reseda Boulevard shows the split. U.S. Geological Survey elevation data has it rising barely 60 feet between Victory and Ventura boulevards. South of Ventura it gains about 630 feet more before it ends at the trailhead of the Marvin Braude Mulholland Gateway Park. The dirt stretch of Mulholland Drive on the ridge above sits roughly 300 feet higher again.

On the flats, the ground itself never blocks the sun. Shade comes from trees and from the house next door. The design comes down to which roof faces point south or west, and how much of each face is clear of vents and shadows.

In the hills, the land rises toward Mulholland, so the slope as a whole faces north, away from the winter sun. At noon on the shortest day of the year, the sun sits about 32 degrees above Tarzana's southern horizon. In late June it climbs to about 79 degrees. A slope or a house uphill to your south can hide that low December sun for hours and hardly touch the June sun.

Roof shape matters as well. A roof split into several small faces, each pointing a different way, holds fewer panels than its size suggests. A lot tucked into a canyon can also lose early-morning or late-afternoon sun to the hillsides on either side.

That is why a hillside proposal should show production month by month for your address, not one yearly total. We map shade from the terrain and the trees before we suggest a layout. If winter shade takes too much, we will tell you solar is a poor fit for that house.

House age matters on both sides of the boulevard. Census Bureau survey estimates for 2020 to 2024 put the median year built for housing in Tarzana's 91356 ZIP code at 1973. About three of every four owner-occupied houses there went up before 1980. On a house that age, check two things before any panel goes up: how many years the roof has left, and whether the main electrical panel has room for a solar breaker. When it does not, an electrical panel upgrade can be planned into the same project instead of becoming a second job later.

Tarzana is part of the City of Los Angeles, so your electric bill comes from LADWP, the city-owned utility. LADWP sets its own net metering rules instead of following the CPUC's NEM 3.0 decision for Edison customers. Our guide to LADWP solar net metering explains how your exports are credited and which contracts LADWP accepts.

The building permit comes from LADBS, the City's Department of Building and Safety. Under its express-permit rules, a rooftop system on a house can be permitted online through the PermitLA app when it is 10 kW or smaller, sits on a main panel rated 225 amps or less and meets a short list of equipment and wiring limits. Anything bigger or more complex goes through plan review on ePlanLA. Those same rules send a home battery to the Fire Department for its own plan check. We design the system, prepare the permit set and the LADWP application, and stay on both until LADWP clears the system to run.

Our office is at 9221 Corbin Ave #110 in Northridge. Corbin Avenue runs straight south from our door to Ventura Boulevard on Tarzana's west side, a drive of under five miles. From that office we take on solar installation projects for owners who buy or lease. We also handle solar repair for systems that have stopped producing, including ones whose original installer has gone out of business. Price depends on the roof, the shade, and whether you add a battery or a panel upgrade. You see the numbers for paying cash, financing and leasing side by side before you decide. If you plan to buy, leave the federal home solar tax credit out of the math. It ended on December 31, 2025, and our 2026 solar tax credit guide explains what changed.

Tarzana borders Encino to the east, Woodland Hills to the west and Reseda to the north, across Victory Boulevard. Each has its own page: solar panels in Encino, solar panels in Woodland Hills and solar panels in Reseda. Every neighborhood we cover is listed on our Valley and Southern California service areas page.