Solar Permit and Inspection Timeline in Riverside County: How Long It Really Takes in 2026

Adrian Marin|Independent Solar Advisor, Temecula CA

Helping Riverside County homeowners navigate SCE rates and solar options since 2020

Solar installers in Temecula, Murrieta, Menifee, and Lake Elsinore quote project timelines of 60 to 90 days from contract signing to a live system. Most homeowners assume that means 60 to 90 days of work. It does not. It means 60 to 90 days of waiting for three parallel approval processes to grind forward: the city building permit, the SCE interconnection application, and the final Permission to Operate letter. Understanding how each of those processes works, what can slow them down, and what separates a contractor who manages them well from one who does not is the single most useful thing you can know before signing a solar contract in Southwest Riverside County.

Why the Permit Timeline Is the Real Project Timeline

The actual installation of a residential solar system typically takes one to two days. A crew of four to six technicians can mount racking, set panels, run conduit, wire the inverter, and connect to the main panel in a single long workday on most standard homes. The roof work, the electrical work, and the commissioning are not where the time goes.

The time goes into approvals. Before a crew can legally start work, a building permit must be issued by the local building authority. Before the system can legally turn on, a city inspection must pass and Southern California Edison must issue a Permission to Operate letter. If your home is in an HOA community, an architectural review board must also approve the installation before work begins.

These processes run on bureaucratic timelines, not contractor timelines. They cannot be rushed by throwing more people at them. They can be managed well or managed poorly, and the difference shows up as a 75-day project versus a 130-day project for work that took the same two days to actually perform.

The Two Separate Permit Tracks Running Simultaneously

Every residential solar installation in California involves two fundamentally different approval processes that run on separate tracks and are managed by separate agencies with no coordination between them.

The first track is the building permit, issued by the local authority having jurisdiction over your property. In Temecula, that is the City of Temecula Building and Safety Department. In Murrieta, it is the City of Murrieta Building Department. In Menifee, it is the City of Menifee Building Division. In Lake Elsinore, it is the City of Lake Elsinore Building and Safety Division. If your property is in an unincorporated part of Riverside County such as Winchester, Wildomar outside city limits, or rural areas east of the cities, it falls under the Riverside County Building and Safety Department, which handles the largest geographic area of all.

The building permit covers the physical installation: roof penetrations, racking hardware attachment, electrical conduit runs, inverter mounting, and the connection to your main electrical panel. The permit demonstrates to the city that the installation was designed by a licensed contractor and engineer and meets the California Building Code, California Electrical Code, and any local amendments.

The second track is the SCE interconnection application, submitted directly to Southern California Edison. This application is entirely separate from any city process. SCE reviews it to determine whether your solar system can safely connect to their distribution grid and how your exported electricity will be credited under the net metering tariff. SCE does not coordinate with the city, does not care about the city permit status, and operates on its own review timeline.

The critical insight for homeowners: these two tracks must both complete before your system can turn on. A well-run project submits both applications on the same day, as soon as the engineering design is finished. A poorly run project submits them sequentially, waiting for the city permit before filing with SCE, which adds four to eight weeks to your total timeline for no technical reason.

City vs. County Jurisdiction: What Changes by Address

Southwest Riverside County is a patchwork of different permit jurisdictions, and which one your property falls under matters significantly for your permit timeline, fee schedule, and submittal requirements.

Temecula

The City of Temecula processes solar permits through its eTRAKiT online permit portal. For qualifying residential systems under 15 kW that meet the streamlined review checklist requirements, Temecula can issue permits in 2 to 3 weeks. Projects that require additional plan check review, such as those involving a main panel upgrade, a roof older than 15 years, or a system layout with non-standard shading or structural complications, take 4 to 6 weeks. Permit fees for standard residential solar in Temecula run approximately $250 to $550 depending on system size.

Temecula has a significant proportion of homes in HOA-governed communities, including Harveston, Wolf Creek, Redhawk, Morgan Hill, Paloma del Sol, and numerous master-planned subdivisions in the southern part of the city. All of those require HOA architectural review in addition to the city permit.

Murrieta

The City of Murrieta Building Department has implemented electronic plan review for solar projects. For standard residential systems, Murrieta typically turns around permits in 3 to 5 weeks. Murrieta's plan check reviewers have been relatively consistent in flagging missing structural documentation on older homes, particularly those built in the 1980s and early 1990s where roof framing documentation is less standardized. Installers who prepare thorough structural letters for these homes tend to sail through. Those who submit generic structural notes often get correction requests that add another 2 to 3 weeks.

Menifee

Menifee is one of the faster permit jurisdictions in Southwest Riverside County for solar. The city adopted a streamlined solar permit checklist and processes qualifying residential systems in 2 to 4 weeks in most cases. Menifee's building department is smaller than Temecula or Murrieta's, which can mean faster individual review but also means delays are more pronounced when a plan checker is out or when a high volume of permit applications arrive simultaneously.

Lake Elsinore

Lake Elsinore's Building and Safety Division processes solar permits on timelines similar to Menifee, typically 3 to 5 weeks for standard residential projects. Lake Elsinore has a higher proportion of manufactured homes and older housing stock compared to Temecula or Murrieta, and those property types can require additional structural documentation that extends the plan check timeline. Properties near the lake or in hillside areas may also trigger fire hazard severity zone requirements that add permit conditions.

Unincorporated Riverside County

If your address is in unincorporated Riverside County, your permit goes through the Riverside County Building and Safety Department, which covers a vast territory including rural areas east of Lake Elsinore, Winchester, some parts of Wildomar, and unincorporated communities throughout the county. The county building department handles an enormous volume of permits across this territory, and solar permit timelines through the county can run 4 to 8 weeks for standard projects and 8 to 12 weeks for complex ones. If you are not sure whether your property is in a city or in unincorporated county territory, look up your address on the Riverside County GIS portal or ask your installer to confirm jurisdiction before the permit is filed.

What a Complete Permit Submittal Package Requires

The single biggest controllable factor in permit timeline is the completeness of the permit submittal package your installer puts together. A complete, accurate submittal package gets through plan check in one round. An incomplete or inaccurate one comes back with corrections, and each correction round adds 1 to 3 weeks to your timeline.

Every residential solar permit in Riverside County jurisdictions requires these documents:

• Site plan: A scaled drawing showing the location and dimensions of the solar array on your specific roof, with setback distances from all roof edges, ridges, hips, valleys, and roof obstructions such as vents, skylights, chimneys, and HVAC equipment. The setbacks must meet California Fire Code requirements and any local amendments. The plan must be specific to your property, not a generic template.
• Single-line electrical diagram: A schematic diagram showing every electrical component in the system from the panels through to the utility meter. This includes the panel string configuration, DC combiner if applicable, inverter model with specifications, rapid shutdown device location, AC disconnect location, conduit and wire sizing for every run, overcurrent protection sizes, and the connection point at the main electrical panel or sub-panel. The diagram must match the actual equipment being installed.
• Structural engineering letter or stamped calculations: A licensed structural engineer must confirm that the racking attachment design is adequate for the roof framing type. For stick-framed roofs, the letter specifies the attachment hardware, the size and spacing of lag screws into rafters, and the maximum spacing between attachment points. For truss-framed roofs, the engineer confirms attachment to truss chord members with appropriate hardware. A generic structural note that says "installer to verify" is not acceptable in any Riverside County jurisdiction.
• Equipment specification sheets: Cut sheets for the solar panels, inverter, racking system, and rapid shutdown device. These must match exactly the models listed in the permit application and shown in the single-line diagram. A permit application that lists a different inverter model than the specification sheet attached to it will be flagged in plan check.
• Load calculations (when required): For systems larger than 10 kW, for homes with older 100-amp main panels, or for any project that involves a main panel upgrade, load calculations confirm that the existing or proposed electrical service can accommodate the added solar production without creating hazardous conditions. Some plan checkers in Riverside County jurisdictions require load calculations for all solar projects; others require them only when the system size or panel ampacity exceeds a threshold. Ask your installer whether load calculations will be required for your specific project before they submit.
• Completed permit application: Every city requires its own permit application form with accurate project data: property address, assessor parcel number, contractor license number, system DC and AC size in kilowatts, number of panels, total roof load added, and in some jurisdictions the total system cost for fee calculation purposes.

What distinguishes a well-prepared submittal from a lazy one is specificity. Generic plan templates with your address substituted in place of a prior job's address, structural notes that refer to "standard residential framing" without specifying your actual framing type, and electrical diagrams that reference equipment from a prior job are all things that experienced plan checkers catch immediately. Cities in Riverside County process enough solar permits that their reviewers know what a complete submittal looks like. Incomplete packages come back.

Plan Check Comments: The Most Common Correction Requests

When a permit application comes back with plan check corrections, the reviewer issues a written comment list specifying every item that must be addressed before the permit can be issued. The homeowner does not typically see these comments directly; they go to the contractor. But understanding what commonly gets flagged is useful because it tells you what to look for when evaluating an installer's permit preparation quality.

These are the correction requests that appear most frequently in Riverside County jurisdictions for residential solar:

• Racking attachment not specified to structural members: The structural letter or note references "roof rafters" without identifying the rafter size, spacing, or framing type from the actual roof. For truss roofs, the attachment point must be identified as the top chord or web with specific hardware. Generic references get flagged.
• Single-line diagram equipment mismatch: The inverter model on the single-line diagram does not match the inverter listed in the permit application or shown in the equipment cut sheet. This happens when installers use a template drawing without updating all the references.
• Missing rapid shutdown device or incorrect location: California has required rapid shutdown for all new solar installations since 2019 under the NEC 2017 provisions adopted in CALGreen. The rapid shutdown device must be clearly shown on the single-line diagram and its location must comply with the required proximity to the roof edge and inverter.
• Wire sizing not calculated for actual run length: A 10-foot wire run from inverter to main panel can use the minimum code-required wire size. A 60-foot run down a hallway to a sub-panel requires a larger gauge to prevent voltage drop below acceptable limits. Plan checkers flag diagrams that show undersized wire for the run length described in the notes.
• Setback dimensions missing or incorrect: California Fire Code requires specific clear access pathways on roofs for firefighter access. A three-foot setback from hip and valley lines, a three-foot clear pathway from the ridge on certain roof types, and access pathway requirements from the eave depend on roof configuration. Diagrams that show panels installed without documenting these setbacks get flagged.
• Missing or incorrect labeling callouts: California requires specific warning labels at the rapid shutdown device, the utility disconnect, the main panel, and on the conduit runs. The single-line diagram and site plan must show what labels will be placed and where. Missing label callouts are a frequent and entirely avoidable correction.
• Main panel condition not addressed: For homes with 100-amp or smaller main panels, or panels that a site survey reveals to be older Federal Pacific, Zinsco, or Pushmatic units, plan checkers may require documentation confirming the panel is code-compliant or, more commonly, require the permit to include a main panel upgrade.

Each of these corrections is entirely preventable with careful plan preparation. The instinct some installers have to use generic templates and fill in project-specific details later produces correction after correction. An installer who builds project-specific drawings for every job from the site survey data eliminates most of these risks before submission.

SCE Net Energy Metering Application: The Interconnection Track

While the city permit is moving through plan check, a well-managed project is simultaneously moving through the SCE interconnection review. The SCE Net Energy Metering Application, called the NEMA, is submitted directly to Southern California Edison and is entirely separate from anything the city does.

The NEMA asks SCE to review your proposed solar system against the technical parameters of the local distribution circuit serving your property. SCE checks whether your proposed system size, combined with all the other solar systems already on the same local circuit, pushes that circuit beyond the safety thresholds for reverse power flow and voltage stability. For most standard residential systems under 10 kW in established neighborhoods in Temecula, Murrieta, Menifee, and Lake Elsinore, this review is straightforward and conditional approval comes back within 10 to 30 business days.

The NEMA submittal package that your installer sends to SCE includes the system design details, equipment specifications, your utility account information, and in some cases the completed city permit application. SCE does not require the city permit to be issued before it reviews the interconnection application; the two processes are independent and should run in parallel.

When the NEMA is approved, SCE issues a conditional approval letter. This letter authorizes the installation to proceed but does not yet authorize the system to operate. The conditional approval is contingent on the actual installation matching the design reviewed by SCE and on passing the city inspection.

SCE interconnection timelines are sensitive to local grid saturation. As solar adoption in SW Riverside County has grown, some local distribution circuits have filled up to the point where SCE must conduct more detailed engineering reviews before approving additional solar. An installer who regularly works in your neighborhood should know whether the local circuit has any queue backlog. If they do not know, that is itself informative about how much local experience they actually have.

The Interconnection Agreement and the PTO Letter

Between the conditional NEMA approval and the final Permission to Operate, there is an intermediate step: the Interconnection Agreement. This is the formal contract between you and SCE that governs the terms of your solar system's connection to the grid, your NEM enrollment, how exported electricity is credited, and your responsibilities as a distributed generation customer.

Your installer handles the mechanics of the interconnection agreement on your behalf. You will need to review and sign it at some point during the process, typically after the NEMA conditional approval and before or shortly after installation. The interconnection agreement locks in your net metering rate schedule, which under current SCE rules means enrollment in the Net Billing Tariff (NEM 3.0).

After the city inspection passes and your installer submits the final documentation to SCE, SCE conducts its final review and issues the Permission to Operate letter. The PTO letter arrives by email and authorizes you to energize your solar system. Turning on the system before receiving PTO violates your interconnection agreement and can result in penalties, delayed NEM enrollment, or being required to go through the interconnection process again.

The time between the city inspection passing and the PTO letter arriving is typically 2 to 4 weeks for straightforward residential projects. This is the step that frustrates homeowners most, because the system is physically complete, everything has passed inspection, and yet nothing can happen while the administrative review grinds forward. Setting this expectation clearly before installation begins is one mark of a contractor who manages the process honestly. Installers who do not mention PTO timing until the inspection has passed tend to be the ones who face angry calls from homeowners wondering why their panels are doing nothing.

HOA Approval: The Third Approval Running Separately

For the large share of homes in Southwest Riverside County that are in HOA-governed communities, there is a third approval process that runs entirely separately from both the city permit and SCE interconnection. HOA architectural review is a private process governed by your community's CC&Rs and subject to California Civil Code Section 714, which limits HOAs from unreasonably restricting solar installations.

Under Civil Code Section 714, an HOA may require solar installations to meet certain aesthetic conditions: panels that are not readily visible from the street do not need to meet appearance standards, panels that are visible from the street or a common area must meet standards if those standards do not cost more than $1,000 above the base installation or reduce energy production by more than 10 percent or 20 percent in some circumstances. HOAs can require specific panel placement, black-on-black panels, conduit painted to match the roof or wall color, and other conditions that affect the installation design. They cannot simply prohibit solar.

California Civil Code gives HOAs 45 days to respond to a solar installation application. If the HOA does not respond within 45 days, the application is deemed approved by operation of law. In practice, most HOA architectural committees process applications much faster or much slower depending on how frequently they meet. Communities like Harveston in Temecula, which has an active architectural committee with regular monthly meetings, often turn around solar approvals in 3 to 6 weeks. Smaller communities with informal boards that only meet quarterly can take 8 to 12 weeks even if the application is complete.

HOAs typically require a submittal package that includes a site plan showing panel location on your roof, a photo or rendering of the proposed installation, the equipment specifications for the panels and racking, and sometimes a description of the conduit routing. Some HOA architectural guidelines specify that electrical conduit must be run inside the attic or inside the wall cavity rather than exposed on the exterior, which is a more complex installation that costs more and takes longer.

The most important sequencing decision for HOA homeowners: submit the HOA application on the same day your installer submits the city permit application. Do not wait for HOA approval before starting the city permit process, and do not wait for city permit issuance before submitting to your HOA. Running all three approval tracks in parallel is the only way to keep the total project timeline from compounding. Homeowners who submit sequentially, waiting for HOA before city permit and city permit before SCE, routinely add 6 to 10 weeks to their project timeline for no technical reason.

Inspection Day: What the Inspector Checks and Where Projects Fail

After installation is complete, your installer schedules a final inspection with the local building department. In Temecula, Murrieta, Menifee, and Lake Elsinore, inspection scheduling is done through the city's online inspection request portal and typically results in an inspection appointment within 5 to 10 business days of the request. Riverside County's inspection scheduling for unincorporated areas can take longer, sometimes 10 to 15 business days, because the county covers more ground with its inspection staff.

The city building inspector arrives at your property and conducts a physical inspection of the completed installation. They are verifying that what was built matches what was permitted. This is not a technical evaluation of solar system performance; it is a code compliance check against the approved permit drawings.

Inspectors check the following:

• Racking attachment: The inspector may probe or visually confirm that mounting hardware penetrates the roof and hits the structural members specified in the permit drawings, not just roofing material. A lag screw into an open bay between rafters is an automatic fail.
• Conduit routing: The conduit run from the roof to the inverter or main panel must match the routing shown on the permitted electrical plans. A crew that rerouted conduit from the planned path during installation without a plan change creates a mismatch that inspectors catch.
• Wire sizing: Wire gauge must match what was specified in the permit drawings. Substituting smaller gauge wire than specified to save cost is a code violation and an inspection fail.
• Inverter and rapid shutdown device installation: The inverter must be mounted in the location shown in the permit, properly secured, and with all required conduit and wire connections made. The rapid shutdown device must be in the approved location, wired correctly, and accessible.
• AC disconnect location and labeling: The AC disconnect must be installed in an accessible location, properly rated, and labeled with the required NEC and California-specific warning labels.
• Main panel connection: The solar system's connection to the main electrical panel or sub-panel must use a properly sized breaker in the correct location, with no overcurrent protection violations. For systems connecting to an older panel, the inspector may examine the overall panel condition.
• Required labels: California requires specific photovoltaic system warning labels at multiple points in the system. Missing even a single required label results in a failed inspection until the label is installed and re-inspected.

Failed inspections require a correction and a reinspection appointment. The reinspection adds another 5 to 10 business days to the timeline. Common fail points are almost always installation quality issues, not design issues: a crew that rushed and skipped a label, conduit that was not strapped at the required intervals, or a rapid shutdown device installed in the wrong location because the crew did not check the permit drawings during installation.

Ask your installer what their first-time inspection pass rate is. A company with experienced installation crews who review the permit drawings before starting work passes on the first inspection on the large majority of projects. A company with high crew turnover or that uses subcontractors who do not have access to the specific permit drawings for each job fails more often.

The Gap Between Installed and Turned On

One of the most frustrating parts of the solar process for homeowners is the period after installation when the system is physically complete but cannot legally operate. Panels are on the roof. Wiring is connected. The inverter is mounted and online. But the system is not producing any power for your home, and your SCE bill is still running at full price.

This gap exists because of the sequence that must complete before SCE issues the PTO letter: the city inspection must pass, the installer must submit the final interconnection package to SCE, and SCE must complete its final administrative review. That process takes a minimum of 2 to 3 weeks after a passed inspection on a fast project, and 4 to 6 weeks is more typical.

During this waiting period, some homeowners attempt to turn on their solar system anyway, reasoning that everything passed inspection and the PTO letter is just paperwork. This is a significant mistake. Operating before PTO violates the SCE Interconnection Agreement, can result in financial penalties, and in some cases requires SCE to disconnect your meter and re-inspect the installation before issuing PTO. The delay caused by operating before PTO is invariably longer than the delay caused by waiting for PTO in the first place.

The gap is also where homeowners sometimes discover that their installer submitted incomplete final documentation to SCE, causing the PTO review to stall. SCE's final package typically requires the signed city permit, the inspection card sign-off, a photo of the installed system including the inverter and meter, and in some cases an as-built drawing confirming the installation matches the approved design. If any of these items are missing or incorrect, SCE's review clock stops until the missing item arrives. Homeowners who track their PTO status with SCE directly, rather than relying solely on their installer's updates, catch these stalls sooner.

Common Causes of Permit Delays Ranked by Frequency

Based on what consistently slows solar projects in Riverside County jurisdictions, here are the most frequent delay drivers in rough order of how often they appear:

1. Incomplete permit submittals requiring correction rounds. The most common delay by far. Missing structural documentation, equipment specification mismatches, and absent label callouts each send the application back for a resubmission, adding 1 to 3 weeks per round.
2. Main panel upgrade required but not included in original permit scope. When a plan checker or inspector identifies that the existing main panel is undersized or is a flagged panel type that requires replacement, the project scope expands mid-stream. A new permit addendum must be issued, and installation cannot be finalized until the panel upgrade is inspected separately.
3. HOA approval delays for homes in governed communities. HOAs that meet quarterly or that require multiple rounds of architectural committee review can hold up a project that has city permits in hand. Temecula and Murrieta have a high density of HOA communities.
4. SCE interconnection application filed late. Installers who wait for city permit issuance before submitting to SCE lose 4 to 8 weeks of parallel processing time.
5. Plan check backlog during high-volume periods. Building department review queues lengthen during periods of high permit volume, particularly in spring and early summer when many homeowners initiate solar projects before summer cooling season. Projects submitted in peak volume periods take longer to clear even with complete documentation.
6. Inspection fail requiring reinspection. Installation quality issues that cause a failed first inspection add 5 to 10 business days for the reinspection appointment.
7. Incomplete final documentation submitted to SCE after inspection. Missing photos, incomplete as-built drawings, or mismatched equipment documentation stall the PTO review until corrected.
8. Roof repair or replacement required before installation. If the site survey or plan check reveals that the roof cannot carry the additional load of the solar array in its current condition, a roof repair must be completed before the solar permit can be issued. This adds weeks to months depending on contractor availability and a separate building permit for the roof work.

How to Vet an Installer on Permit Track Record Before Signing

The permit and inspection process is invisible to most homeowners until something goes wrong. By that point, they have already signed a contract and paid a deposit. Asking the right questions before signing is how you avoid discovering a contractor's permit management problems on your own dime.

These questions identify whether an installer actually knows the local permit process or is learning it on your project:

• How many permits have you pulled in my city in the last 12 months? An installer who regularly works in Temecula, Murrieta, Menifee, or Lake Elsinore can give you a specific number. One who primarily works in San Diego or Los Angeles and is expanding into Riverside County will be vague. Local permit volume indicates familiarity with the specific reviewers, standard correction patterns, and inspector preferences at your jurisdiction.
• What is your average time from permit submittal to permit issuance? Experienced local installers track this number. A contractor who has not thought about this question is not monitoring their permit performance. Answers significantly longer than the baseline for the city indicate a pattern of correction-heavy submittals.
• Do you submit the SCE interconnection application on the same day as the city permit? The correct answer is yes. An installer who says they wait for city permit issuance before filing with SCE is adding 4 to 8 weeks to your timeline for no reason.
• What is your first-time inspection pass rate? Ask specifically, not just whether they have ever failed. A contractor with experienced crews who review drawings before installation should pass first inspections on 90 percent or more of residential projects. Companies with high subcontractor turnover or who do not give crews access to the specific permit drawings for each job fail more often.
• If my home is in an HOA, do you handle the HOA submittal or do I? Some contractors handle HOA submittals as part of their service. Others leave it to the homeowner. Either approach can work, but if the homeowner handles it, confirm the contractor provides all the documents the HOA needs in the correct format so the application does not come back for missing items.
• Can you show me a permit tracking report from a recent project? Contractors who actively track permit status for each project can usually pull up a timeline showing submittal dates, review status, and issuance. One who cannot show you this is probably not actively monitoring permits after submission.

You can also check a contractor's license and complaint history through the California Contractors State License Board (CSLB) at cslb.ca.gov. Solar installers must hold a C-46 (Solar) or C-10 (Electrical) license, and the CSLB database shows license status, expiration, and any enforcement actions. A contractor with unresolved complaints or disciplinary actions on their CSLB record is worth scrutinizing further before signing.

Realistic Total Timelines for Southwest Riverside County

Pulling all the stages together, here is what realistic total timelines look like for projects in Temecula, Murrieta, Menifee, and Lake Elsinore:

"Complications" in the table above include any of the following: HOA approval required, main panel upgrade required, roof older than 15 years needing structural addendum, permit correction round required, SCE circuit review triggered, inspection fail requiring reinspection, or a high-volume backlog period at the building department. Many projects encounter at least one of these conditions, which is why 90 days is a more realistic median expectation than 60 days for most homeowners in this area.

The Bottom Line Before You Sign

The permit and inspection process is the part of a solar project that most homeowners spend the least time thinking about before they sign a contract, and the most time thinking about after they sign. Understanding the structure of the two parallel approval tracks, which building department has jurisdiction over your property, what a complete permit submittal requires, and how the SCE PTO process works gives you a significant informational advantage when comparing installers and evaluating the timelines they quote.

The most reliable predictor of a smooth project is the quality and experience of the installer you choose. An installer who regularly pulls permits in your specific city, submits to SCE on the same day as the city, prepares complete permit packages that sail through plan check in one round, and passes first inspections consistently will get you to PTO in 60 to 80 days on a typical project. An installer who cuts corners on permit preparation, files sequentially rather than in parallel, and uses rotating subcontractors who do not review permit drawings will stretch the same physical installation past 120 days.

Ask specifically about permit experience, not just installation experience. Any contractor can tell you how many systems they have installed. The ones who know the Riverside County permit process will tell you their average permit turnaround time by city, their first-inspection pass rate, and exactly when they file the SCE interconnection application relative to the city permit. Those answers tell you more about the project experience you will have than any number of five-star reviews.

Frequently Asked Questions