Solar Panel Installation in Pasadena, CA
Pasadena Water and Power pays more for your surplus solar than almost any utility
in the region — but only if you send in the form, and only if you pick the right billing cycle.
LA Solar Group has installed solar across Los Angeles County since 2010, from our yard at
8484 San Fernando Road in Sun Valley. Pasadena is served by its own municipal utility, so the
CPUC’s net billing rules never applied here. What does apply is a compensation formula PWP
publishes openly, an enrolment form most homeowners never return, and a choice between two billing
cycles worth 6.6 cents per kilowatt-hour.
- PWP net metering enrolment and surplus compensation election handled for you
- System sized against PWP’s actual Energy Charge, not a generic savings model
- Battery storage sized for foothill outages and fire-season resilience
- Level 2 EV chargers and main-panel load calculations done once
- Historic district and design review experience for older Pasadena homes
Get a Pasadena solar quote
A real designer reviews your roof and your PWP bill — not an instant guess.
In Pasadena, compensation for surplus solar is opt-in
The sentence most Pasadena solar owners have never read
“To receive compensation, eligible customers must complete PWP’s Net
Metering and Surplus Compensation Enrollment Form.”
Compensation for net surplus electricity is not automatic in Pasadena.
You have to affirmatively elect it on an enrolment form and return it to PWP.
There is even a box to decline: marking “No” in Section 1 opts you out.
PWP’s own advice is to elect the compensation whether or not you expect a surplus — because a
well-designed system is built to offset your historical usage, and surplus only shows up when your
consumption drops or you take a long holiday. In PWP’s words, homeowners should elect compensation
“in case your electrical consumption decreases or you take a long vacation.”
We file this for our Pasadena customers as part of the job. It is a form, not a
favour, but it is the kind of thing that gets forgotten between installation and permission to
operate — and forgetting it costs you money quietly, for years.
Source: Pasadena Water and Power — Net Surplus Compensation (Net Energy Metering)
Two billing cycles. One of them pays 6.6¢ per kWh more.
Once you elect compensation, you choose how often PWP reconciles your account. That choice is
worth real money, and PWP is completely open about why.
| Option | What PWP pays for net surplus electricity |
|---|---|
| Annual Billed once a year |
PWP’s average Energy Charge during that year + 2.5¢ per kWh for applicable renewable energy credits |
| Monthly / Bi-monthly Residential customers are billed bi-monthly |
PWP’s Energy Charge + 2.5¢ per kWh for renewable energy credits + an additional 6.6¢ per kWh |
PWP’s current Energy Charge is 9.127¢ per kWh in winter and 10.053¢ per kWh in
summer. Rates are subject to change, and they vary seasonally for commercial customers.
Put those together and the monthly/bi-monthly option currently lands in the region of
18¢ to 19¢ per kilowatt-hour for surplus energy, against roughly 12¢ on the annual
option. That is not a rounding difference.
In PWP’s own words: “The annual option is more costly to administer, so PWP is incentivizing
the monthly / bi-monthly option with a 6.6¢ per kWh bonus. By selecting this option, you’ll see a
greater cost-benefit from your solar system and help PWP hold down electric rates for everyone.”
Do the arithmetic fresh before you sign anything. The compensation rate changes
over time with Power Cost Adjustments, seasonal variations and rate changes approved by City
Council. We recalculate against the current Energy Charge on every proposal rather than quoting a
number from last year.
Already on the annual cycle?
PWP allows a switch. If it is the first time you are submitting the enrolment form, PWP will
close out your annual cycle when it receives your election to move to monthly or bi-monthly, then
calculate the surplus. Worth checking your own paperwork if you installed years ago and never
thought about it again.
Pasadena will actually pay you out. LADWP will not.
Compensation is normally applied as a credit on your electric bill, offsetting electrical and
non-electrical charges. But Pasadena goes further than its neighbours:
Pasadena Water and Power
You may request a cash-out of net surplus compensation rather than a credit
when the value exceeds $50, or when you close your electric account.
LADWP, a few miles west
Credit balances roll forward onto subsequent bills, but if a credit balance remains
when the customer terminates service, the balance is adjusted to zero and the customer
is owed no further compensation for excess generation.
If you sell a house in Pasadena with a credit balance, you can ask for it. In Los Angeles
you cannot. It is a small difference in the tariff language with a real consequence at
closing, and it is the kind of detail that never appears in a solar sales pitch.
Before AB 920, PWP reconciled consumption against generation and zeroed out any net
surplus credits without compensation — the same treatment LADWP still applies at account closure.
The California Solar Surplus Act of 2009 changed that, requiring utilities to offer compensation for
net surplus electricity generated on or after January 31, 2010. Pasadena City Council established
PWP’s compensation rate on January 10, 2011. Full programme specifications are in Pasadena Municipal
Code 13.04.177.
Talk to a designer who knows PWP’s enrolment process
NEM 3.0 does not apply in Pasadena
The net billing tariff commonly called NEM 3.0 — the rule that cut export credits sharply across
California — came from a California Public Utilities Commission decision. The CPUC
regulates investor-owned utilities: PG&E, Southern California Edison and SDG&E.
Pasadena Water and Power is a municipal utility owned by the City of Pasadena.
The CPUC does not regulate it. PWP offers eligible customer-generators its own Net Energy Metering
rate under PWP’s Electric Rate Schedule, consistent with California Public Utilities Code
§2827(c)(1).
So a homeowner in Pasadena and a homeowner in a neighbouring Edison city can install identical
systems and be paid on completely different terms. If a proposal you are reading talks about NEM 3.0
export rates, it was written for the wrong utility.
“Did your savings model use PWP’s Energy Charge and the surplus compensation formula, or a generic
California net billing rate?” The answer tells you whether they have read Pasadena’s tariff.
Batteries in Pasadena: the honest case is resilience, not arbitrage
A lot of solar companies sell storage using the Edison argument — “export credits are terrible
now, so keep your power instead.” That argument does not apply here. PWP pays your
Energy Charge plus 2.5¢ plus, on the right cycle, another 6.6¢. Storing a kilowatt-hour rather than
exporting it does not create the same gap it does in investor-owned territory.
The real reasons a battery earns its cost in Pasadena are different — and, we would argue,
better:
A grid-tied array shuts off when the grid does
For the safety of line crews, a standard grid-tied solar system disconnects during an outage —
by design. Without a battery, your panels produce nothing on exactly the day the power is out.
The foothills are in a fire hazard zone
CAL FIRE’s recommended maps released on March 24, 2025 kept the foothills that
rise above La Cañada, Altadena and Glendale inside a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. If your
parcel sits in that zone, wind events and outages are part of the calendar, not a freak occurrence.
Whole-home or critical loads
The decision most quotes skip. Backing up an entire house takes far more storage than backing
up a critical-loads subpanel covering the refrigerator, internet, a few lighting circuits, the
gate and any medical equipment. We price both.
Older homes, older service
Much of Pasadena’s housing stock predates modern electrical loads. A battery installation is
often the moment the main panel finally gets sized properly — worth planning deliberately rather
than discovering mid-project.
We install Tesla Powerwall and other battery platforms. The right one depends on
your backup load, your panel and your available wall or garage space — not on which brand is being
pushed this quarter.
Fire zone source: Los Angeles GeoHub — Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones.
We check your specific parcel against the current map before designing.
EV charging in Pasadena: use it yourself, or export it — the gap is smaller here
In most of California, charging an electric car off your own midday solar is dramatically better
than exporting that energy. In Pasadena the gap is narrower, because surplus export is compensated
well. That changes the advice in a useful way: you have more freedom to size for the car
without worrying that surplus is wasted.
Size for the car you are about to buy
Because surplus is compensated at a reasonable rate here rather than dumped, sizing slightly
ahead of an EV purchase is less punishing in Pasadena than it would be under net billing. Tell us
what you are planning before we design.
Do the panel upgrade once
Solar, a battery and a Level 2 charger all land on the same main service panel. Pasadena’s
older housing stock frequently needs that panel upgraded. Sizing it once for everything costs far
less than doing it twice.
Charger and array on one permit
If the array and the charger go in together, the panel work, the plan set and the inspection
happen once. Splitting them means paying for mobilisation, permitting and inspection twice.
The PWP charger rebate — Wi-Fi is worth $400 more
| What you install | Rebate |
|---|---|
| Standard Level 2 charger (non Wi-Fi / non internet connected) | $200 |
| “Wi-Fi enabled” or “Internet Connected” Level 2 charger | $600 |
| Permitted electric panel upgrade alongside a charger install | $1,000 |
PWP also runs a used electric vehicle incentive: up to $250 for a used plug-in
EV, plus an additional $250 bonus (up to $500 total) if you buy it from a Pasadena
auto dealer — though that dealer bonus does not apply to direct-sale manufacturers such as Tesla,
Rivian or Lucid where the transaction happens entirely online. A maximum of two EV rebates are
allowed per PWP residential electric account. Customers enrolled in one of PWP’s income-qualifying
programmes may receive an additional $1,000 (up to $1,500).
Four rules that disqualify people
- An existing or new 240V outlet is not eligible. The rebate is for a charger,
not a socket — so a plug-in unit on a NEMA outlet does not qualify. - Chargers that switch between Level 1 (120V) and Level 2 (240V) are not eligible.
- The charger must be a new, wall-mounted Level 2 (240V) unit with an SAE J1772
or Tesla connector, certified by a nationally recognised testing laboratory. Portable, leased,
resold, rebuilt, warranty-replacement and prize-won chargers are excluded. - Apply within 180 days of purchase, and the charger must be installed before
you submit. You will need the Building/Electrical Permit inspection sign-off from the Pasadena
building inspector.
All electrical work must be performed by a qualified, licensed contractor to local code, with
permitting and inspection. An electrical permit from the City of Pasadena’s Building and Safety
Division is required for a hard-wired charger or a new or modified 240V power socket — the Planning
and Community Development department is on (626) 744-4200. Incentives are limited
to two chargers per residential address, and the rebate cannot exceed the cost of the equipment.
Source: PWP — Residential Electric Vehicle and Charger Incentive Program.
Amounts and rules change; confirm current terms with PWP.
Pasadena roofs are older, prettier, and more complicated
Craftsman and period housing stock
Pasadena has one of the most significant collections of Craftsman architecture in the country,
alongside Spanish Colonial Revival, Mediterranean and mid-century homes. Complex rooflines, deep
eaves, dormers and clay tile all reduce usable array area and change the mounting spec. Tile
roofs need tile-replacement mounts, not standard composition flashing.
Landmark districts: solar is exempt from review
Good news that surprises most owners. The City of Pasadena lists installation of solar
panels among the work that is exempt from a Certificate of Appropriateness
in a landmark district — alongside exterior alterations not visible from the street, interior
alterations, paint colours, landscaping and routine maintenance. See below.
Mature tree canopy
Pasadena’s streets are heavily treed, and the city protects many of them. Shade study is
frequently the binding constraint on system size rather than roof area — and “trim the tree” is
often not an available answer here.
The foothills north of the 210
Slope, terrain shading, wind exposure and fire-zone considerations. Terrain shading models
differently from tree shading, and getting that wrong is the most common cause of a system
underproducing its estimate.
If you live in a Pasadena landmark district
Solar panels are exempt from a Certificate of Appropriateness
The City of Pasadena’s own guidance on landmark districts, answering what work is exempt from a
Certificate of Appropriateness:
“Exterior alterations not visible from the street, interior
alterations, paint colors, landscaping, installation of solar panels and routine
maintenance are all exempt from review. Mechanical system upgrades are exempt if the work is not
visible from the street.”
The City is also explicit that being in a landmark district carries no
obligation to restore your house: there is no requirement to restore a lost architectural feature,
remove later additions, or add features to make the house more historic.
Work that is commonly reviewed in a landmark district includes window replacement, front
porch reconstruction, additions, fences and new garages. Rooftop solar is not on that list. A
Certificate of Appropriateness, where required, confirms a change complies with the Secretary of the
Interior’s Standards and the Design Guidelines for Historic Districts, and must be issued before a
building permit — staff review minor projects, the Historic Preservation Commission reviews major
ones.
One honest caveat. The exemption above is the City’s guidance for landmark
districts. Individually designated landmarks and monuments, and properties under a Mills Act
contract, carry their own obligations, and a Mills Act contract is a separate agreement with its own
terms. If your property is individually designated or under Mills Act, confirm the requirements with
the City’s Design & Historic Preservation staff at the Permit Center before finalising a layout —
we will make that call with you rather than assume.
Source: City of Pasadena — Historic Designations & Incentives.
Requirements can change; confirm for your specific property.
Four steps, in this order
Bill and roof review
We pull 12 months of PWP billing, measure the roof, run the shade study, and model against
PWP’s actual Energy Charge rather than a generic savings curve.
Design and permit
Plan set produced and filed with the City of Pasadena, including any design review that
applies to a landmark or historic district property.
Install and inspect
Installation, then building inspection, then PWP sets the solar meter.
Enrolment and election
The step everyone forgets. Net Metering and Surplus Compensation Enrollment
Form completed, compensation elected, and the monthly/bi-monthly option chosen deliberately.
What these jobs actually cost
Everyone else says “free estimates.” We publish real systems with real numbers.
Neighborhood · roof type · system size (kW) · panel count and wattage · battery model and count ·
net price the customer paid · days on roof · contract-to-PTO days · before and
after photos. Same format as the Beverly Hills page.
Same fields. A Craftsman or Spanish tile job shows you can work Pasadena’s actual housing stock,
which is the local credibility test on this page.
Same fields. Demonstrates the resilience argument in practice rather than in theory.
★★★★★
What Pasadena homeowners say
Paste 3 real Google reviews here — reviewer name, star rating, and the quote as written.
Do not add
AggregateRating or Review schema until these are real reviews.
Three questions to ask any Pasadena solar bidder
“Will you file my surplus compensation enrolment form?”
If they do not know what it is, they have not read PWP’s programme — and you may end up with a
system that never gets compensated for surplus.
“Which billing cycle did your model assume?”
Annual and bi-monthly differ by 6.6¢ per kWh on surplus. A proposal that does not name the
cycle is not a proposal about Pasadena.
“Show me the shade study.”
Under Pasadena’s tree canopy, a proposal without a shade model is a guess. Ask which software
produced it and to see the modelled monthly shading losses.
Request a Pasadena solar quote
Pasadena solar questions
Does NEM 3.0 apply to solar in Pasadena?
No. The net billing tariff commonly called NEM 3.0 came from a California Public Utilities
Commission decision, and the CPUC regulates investor-owned utilities: PG&E, Southern California
Edison and SDG&E. Pasadena Water and Power is a municipal utility owned by the City of Pasadena
and is not CPUC-regulated. PWP offers eligible customer-generators its own Net Energy Metering rate
under PWP’s Electric Rate Schedule, consistent with California Public Utilities Code section
2827(c)(1).
How much does Pasadena pay for surplus solar?
It depends which billing option you elect. On the annual option, PWP credits net surplus at its
average Energy Charge for that year plus 2.5 cents per kWh for applicable renewable energy credits.
On the monthly or bi-monthly option, PWP credits the Energy Charge plus 2.5 cents per kWh plus an
additional 6.6 cents per kWh. PWP’s Energy Charge is currently 9.127 cents per kWh in winter and
10.053 cents per kWh in summer, and rates are subject to change.
Do I automatically get paid for surplus solar in Pasadena?
No. Compensation is opt-in. To receive compensation, eligible customers must complete PWP’s Net
Metering and Surplus Compensation Enrollment Form and return it to PWP, affirmatively electing
compensation. Marking “No” in Section 1 of the form declines it.
Why does the monthly option pay more than the annual option?
PWP states that the annual option is more costly to administer, so it incentivises the monthly
or bi-monthly option with a 6.6 cent per kWh bonus. Residential customers are billed
bi-monthly.
Can I get cash instead of a bill credit in Pasadena?
Yes. Compensation is normally applied as a credit on your electric bill, but you may request a
cash-out of net surplus compensation when the value exceeds $50, or when you close your electric
account. This differs from LADWP, which zeroes any remaining credit balance when a customer
terminates service.
Can I switch from annual to bi-monthly net metering?
Yes. If it is the first time you are submitting the Net Metering and Surplus Compensation
Enrollment Form, PWP will close out your annual cycle once it receives your election to switch, then
calculate any net surplus.
Do I need a battery if Pasadena pays well for surplus?
Not for the export-rate reason that applies in Edison territory, because PWP compensates surplus
at the Energy Charge plus bonuses. The reason batteries matter in Pasadena is outages: a grid-tied
array without storage disconnects during a power outage by design, so it produces nothing while the
power is out. That matters most in the foothills, which CAL FIRE’s recommended maps of March 24,
2025 kept inside a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone.
Do I need a Certificate of Appropriateness for solar in a Pasadena landmark district?
No. The City of Pasadena lists installation of solar panels among the work that is exempt from a
Certificate of Appropriateness in a landmark district, alongside exterior alterations not visible
from the street, interior alterations, paint colours, landscaping and routine maintenance. Work
commonly reviewed in landmark districts includes window replacement, front porch reconstruction,
additions, fences and new garages. Individually designated landmarks and properties under a Mills
Act contract carry their own obligations, so confirm the requirements for your specific property
with the City’s Design and Historic Preservation staff.
Does Pasadena offer an EV charger rebate?
Yes. Pasadena Water and Power pays $200 for a standard Level 2 charger and $600 for a Wi-Fi
enabled or internet connected model, with $1,000 available for a permitted electric panel upgrade
carried out alongside an EV charger installation. Chargers must be new, wall-mounted Level 2 units
with an SAE J1772 or Tesla connector and NRTL certification. An existing or new 240V outlet is not
eligible, and chargers that switch between Level 1 and Level 2 are not eligible. Applications must
be submitted within 180 days of purchase, and incentives are limited to two chargers per
residential address.
Is there a rebate for buying an electric vehicle in Pasadena?
PWP residential electric customers are eligible for up to a $250 rebate on a used plug-in
electric vehicle, with an additional $250 bonus — up to $500 total — if purchased from a Pasadena
auto dealer. The dealer bonus does not apply to manufacturers using a direct-sale online model such
as Tesla, Rivian or Lucid. A maximum of two EV rebates are allowed per PWP residential electric
account, and customers enrolled in one of PWP’s income-qualifying programmes may receive an
additional $1,000, up to $1,500.
Can you replace my roof at the same time?
Yes. If the roof has less than roughly ten years of life left, replacing it before the array goes
on costs less than removing and reinstalling panels later. Pasadena’s tile and period roofs need
specific mounting approaches, so it is worth planning both under one contract. See our
roofing services.
Related services and nearby areas
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Still have questions?
Talk to a designer who has read Pasadena’s compensation formula.
