If you’re putting solar on a home in California, the rules that will actually shape your project are these: you need a permit from your city or county and a licensed contractor to pull it; your system has to meet the state building and electrical codes plus fire-access setbacks; your HOA cannot block the installation; and since April 15, 2023, the utility credits you receive for exported power are set by the Net Billing Tariff rather than full retail rates. On top of that, the 30% federal Residential Clean Energy Credit expired for systems placed in service after December 31, 2025. The California solar rules below cover each of these in the order most homeowners run into them.
Permits Every Installation Needs
Every residential solar installation requires a building permit from the local city or county. Government Code Section 65850.5 forces every jurisdiction to run an expedited, streamlined process for small residential rooftop systems: a published checklist on the jurisdiction’s website, electronic applications, and prompt approval once the application meets the checklist.1California Legislative Information. California Government Code 65850.5 – Solar Energy Systems An incomplete application must come back with a written correction notice listing what’s missing, not a silent denial.
The statute doesn’t fix a day count, but the California Solar Permitting Guidebook from the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research recommends over-the-counter approval for eligible walk-in or electronic submittals, or one to three business days at the outside.2Governor’s Office of Planning and Research. California Solar Permitting Guidebook, Fourth Edition Local rules must substantially conform to that guidebook, with narrow room to adjust for seismic, climate, or topographical conditions.
More than 340 California jurisdictions now use SolarAPP+, an online platform that runs code compliance checks and issues an instant permit when a design passes. The platform has issued more than 137,000 permits and is free to local governments.3SolarAPP+. SolarAPP+ Home If your city uses it, your installer can often walk away with a permit the same day.
After installation, state law requires only one inspection for small residential rooftop systems eligible for expedited review.1California Legislative Information. California Government Code 65850.5 – Solar Energy Systems The inspector checks that the built system matches the approved plans, the electrical work meets code, and fire pathways are clear. You can’t turn the system on or export to the grid until it passes and the utility grants permission to operate under Electric Rule 21.4California Public Utilities Commission. Electric Rule 21 – Generating Facility Interconnections
Who Is Allowed to Install It
Only licensed contractors can install residential solar in California. The relevant Contractors State License Board classification is C-46, which covers installing, modifying, maintaining, and repairing both thermal and photovoltaic solar systems.5Contractors State License Board. California Code of Regulations Title 16, Division 8, Article 3 – C-46 Solar A C-10 electrical contractor can also perform the electrical portion. Before you sign anything, run the license number through the CSLB’s online lookup tool.
The stakes for hiring an unlicensed installer aren’t just theoretical. Unlicensed contracting is a misdemeanor in California, and beyond the criminal exposure, a homeowner who uses an unlicensed contractor can lose warranty coverage, run into insurance-claim problems, and struggle to get future permit approvals for the work.6California Legislative Information. California Business and Professions Code 7028 – Contracting Without a License
Building, Electrical, and Fire-Access Standards
Your system has to comply with the California Building Code and the California Electrical Code. Building Code Sections 3111.2 through 3111.3 set structural and electrical criteria for photovoltaic installations, and the Electrical Code adds requirements for wiring and inverter safety.7UpCodes. California Building Code 2022 – 903.3.1.1.3 Solar Photovoltaic Power Systems Together, these rules confirm the roof can carry the added weight, the electrical connections won’t create fire hazards, and the system can handle seismic loads.
Fire access is one of the most visible constraints on how panels can be laid out. At minimum, two 36-inch-wide pathways on separate roof planes must run from the lowest roof edge to the ridge, with at least one on the street-facing side. Ridge setbacks depend on coverage: arrays occupying a third or less of the total roof area need 18-inch setbacks on both sides of the ridge, and larger arrays need 36-inch setbacks. Panels cannot block emergency escape windows. If a design your installer proposes ignores these, it won’t pass inspection.
How You Get Paid for Exported Power
Homeowners who applied for utility interconnection on or after April 15, 2023, are on the Net Billing Tariff, which replaced NEM 2.0. Export credits are calculated from the CPUC’s Avoided Cost Calculator rather than the full retail rate you pay to consume electricity.8California Public Utilities Commission. Net Energy Metering and Net Billing Avoided-cost values are usually lower than retail, though they can spike above retail on late summer evenings when the grid is stressed.
Several other pieces of the tariff shape the math:
- You must enroll in a specific electrification time-of-use schedule: E-ELEC for PG&E, TOU-D-PRIME for SCE, or EV-TOU-5 for SDG&E. Off-peak prices are lower and on-peak prices are higher.
- Charges are billed monthly instead of accumulating for an annual true-up. Unused credits roll month to month for 12 months until the true-up date.
- Residential PG&E and SCE customers who interconnect before the end of 2027 receive a slightly higher export credit adder for nine years. SDG&E customers don’t get it because their higher retail rates already deliver larger bill savings. Homes required to install solar under the new-construction mandate don’t get the adder either.
- The original customer keeps the Net Billing Tariff terms for nine years from interconnection, even if the rules change later.
The practical takeaway: exporting a kilowatt-hour at avoided cost is worth less than using that kilowatt-hour yourself at retail. That’s why battery storage now carries more weight in the sizing conversation than it used to.
Battery Storage and the SGIP Rebate
A residential battery paired with solar must meet the California Building Code and the UL 9540 safety standard, which evaluates the battery, inverter, and control software as one integrated system. UL 9540A adds a thermal-runaway test that dictates safe spacing between units. Local building and fire departments typically require UL 9540 certification before signing off.
California’s Self-Generation Incentive Program offers rebates for residential storage. The CPUC authorized $280 million for the Residential Solar and Storage Equity budget, which pays $1,100 per kWh for storage and $3,100 per kW for solar to qualifying low-income residential customers.9California Public Utilities Commission. Self-Generation Incentive Program A separate Small Residential Storage budget pays $150 per kWh to general residential customers of investor-owned utilities. Applicants have one year after reserving funds to meet program requirements, including enrollment in a qualified demand response program. Incentive levels step down as budget tiers empty, so check the current SGIP Handbook before you count on a specific figure.
What Your HOA and City Cannot Do
California’s Solar Rights Act, in Civil Code Section 714, voids any deed restriction, HOA rule, or contract clause that effectively prohibits or restricts a solar installation. HOAs can impose “reasonable restrictions,” but the statute defines that narrowly for photovoltaic systems: a restriction cannot add more than $1,000 to the system cost or cut efficiency by more than 10 percent from the design as originally proposed.10California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 714 – Solar Energy Systems
An HOA has to process a solar application the way it would any architectural modification request and cannot willfully delay approval. It cannot adopt a blanket policy prohibiting rooftop solar on the building where the owner lives, and it cannot require a membership vote to approve an installation. Actions that violate these provisions are void.
Cities and counties are bound too. A local government cannot adopt permitting requirements so burdensome that they effectively block installation. The system still has to meet health and safety standards, the California Electrical Code, and the rules of accredited testing laboratories, but the approval process itself cannot become the barrier.
Contracts, Disclosures, and Your Right to Cancel
Every residential solar contract in California must carry a solar energy system disclosure document on the front page. Business and Professions Code Section 7169 requires the CSLB and CPUC to develop a disclosure that gives clear information on installation costs, anticipated savings, the assumptions behind those savings estimates, and the implications of different financing options.11Contractors State License Board. CSLB Solar Energy System Disclosure Requirements The disclosure may also spell out the contractor’s license number, the difference between a lease and a purchase, and how the financing could affect a future home sale.
Read it. If a salesperson tells you the system will “pay for itself in five years” but the disclosure shows assumptions that don’t match your actual usage or rate schedule, that gap is where most complaints against solar companies start.
If you signed the contract at your home rather than at the seller’s regular place of business, the federal Cooling-Off Rule gives you three business days to cancel any sale over $25 without penalty. The salesperson has to inform you of that right at the time of sale.12Federal Trade Commission. Cooling-Off Period for Sales Made at Home or Other Locations The FTC has specifically warned that offers for “free” or “no cost” solar panels are scams and that companies cannot overstate savings from tax credits, rebates, or incentives.13Federal Trade Commission. Don’t Waste Your Energy on a Solar Scam
The Federal Tax Credit Is Gone for New Systems
The federal Residential Clean Energy Credit under Section 25D of the tax code, which offered a 30% credit for customer-owned residential solar, expired for systems placed in service after December 31, 2025.14Internal Revenue Service. Residential Clean Energy Credit There was no phase-down. The credit went from 30% to zero at the start of 2026. Systems installed and placed in service before that deadline can still claim it on the 2025 return. For anything installed in 2026 or later, the residential federal credit is unavailable unless Congress passes new legislation.
If You’re Building a New Home
California’s Building Energy Efficiency Standards require a solar photovoltaic system on virtually all newly constructed single-family homes and low-rise multifamily buildings up to three habitable stories.15California Energy Commission. 2022 Low-Rise Multifamily Solar PV Buildings that qualify for a narrow exception (very small usable roof area, minimum system size under 1.8 kW, or a snow-load determination by the enforcement authority) still have to meet solar-ready design requirements so a system can be added later.16California Energy Commission. Solar PV, Solar Ready, Battery Energy Storage System and BESS-Ready Adding a qualifying battery with at least 7.5 kWh of usable capacity lets you shrink the required solar size by 25%. This mandate doesn’t apply to a retrofit on an existing home.
What Happens to Panels at End of Life
Panels typically last 25 to 35 years. When they come down, they’re classified as solid waste under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and depending on concentrations of lead, cadmium, or other toxic metals, they can be classified as hazardous waste based on a toxicity leaching test. Thin-film panels containing cadmium telluride are more likely to trigger hazardous classification than standard crystalline silicon panels. California already allows certain hazardous panels to be managed as universal waste, similar to batteries and LED bulbs, and the EPA has indicated plans to propose a rule adding solar panels to the universal waste category nationally. When it’s time to decommission, use a licensed waste hauler who can determine the correct classification for your specific panels.