What does a solar system inspection cover in California, and what should I ask for?

Three different inspections people call by one name

The city inspection belongs to the permit. San Diego's Information Bulletin 301 prices PV by first system or inverter plan check and inspection, and Visalia's FY 2026-27 schedule prints a plan check of $150.00 and an inspection of $300.00 for residential PV from 1 to 15 kW. The utility step is separate: PG&E, SCE and SDG&E give permission to operate after their review under Rule 21. A private inspection is the third kind, which you order yourself and which the model prices as a visit.

For a private visit, the scope is whatever you and the inspector agree, so ask for a written list of what the visit covers and what the report will say before you book it.

A private inspection's price in California, beside the city's own

Our model puts a private inspection at $165 to $355 per inspection visit. It starts from two national ranges and applies California's installer wage ratio of 1.09, adds no permit fee and takes off no federal credit. It's an estimate and not a quote.

The range doesn't cover repairs, a thermal scan, a report for a lender or a re-inspection. City rows in the table show what a city charges for its permit inspection, which is a different visit.

Estimated range. Built from national published ranges (2 sources), adjusted by California's solar installer wage ratio to the US (1.09, BLS May 2025), plus the city solar permit fee where the city publishes one. Not a quote. One California installer publishes its own quoted range (per watt and per battery), too few to build a range from; the others print blog averages, which we do not count. We have no California company price for this job, so the range is our national estimate alone. Full method. Prices as of Oct 23, 2026.

What the city's own inspection covers, by city

Cities print what their permit inspection includes. Long Beach's IB-023 says its express permit fees cover all required inspection services, and Simi Valley's photovoltaic page lists a $25 administrative fee per project and says one inspection is included. San Francisco's DBI table for permits issued on or after September 1, 2025 prices the electrical permit and inspection for a system of 10 kW or less at $283. Each additional 10 kW is $238 (the row notes up to two inspections), and DBI may revise the table on July 1.

Oakland's FY 2025-26 schedule prints $450 for the residential solar electric inspection. In Thousand Oaks, SolarAPP+ approval isn't a permit until fees are paid and the city issues it. Ask your building department for the permit record and the final inspection date.

What the city inspector looks at on the day

Long Beach says its inspector checks the system against the PV checklist, the approved construction plans and the code. The construction documents, permit and job inspection card have to be on site, the inspector needs access to every part of the system, and ladders must be OSHA compliant. Approval comes "upon final inspection."

San Jose's inspector reviews the electrical plan at the site on the day, with the permit card there and the maker's installation instructions on hand. Its page says "Installers must provide evidence that equipment is appropriately listed/labeled" to the UL standards that apply. Ask the installer to bring it.

In San Diego, the PV inspection guidelines, an undated document on the city's site, list a rough electrical inspection for concealed wiring and array bonding and grounding, then a final of the complete system. A CAL-OSHA compliant ladder must be secured in place. Where a separate utility disconnect is required, an SDG&E approval letter has to be on site.

From the final inspection to permission to operate

The city signs off first. SDG&E's NEM application says the city or county inspector's final approval is required before SDG&E does its own field inspection, and that the inspector notifies SDG&E's New Service Department directly. Its Net Metering Team can't accept copies of an electrical permit. San Diego's 2017 edition of Information Bulletin 301 said the system "is not approved to energize until SDG&E approval is obtained."

SCE issues permission to operate once a project gets final approval, and it says most standard projects get it within 10 business days of a completed package. Non-standard projects can take longer. PG&E's interconnections page, written for projects moved to the Solar Billing Plan, says the agreement has to be signed and any outstanding inspection documents submitted before PTO. SDG&E's pages don't print a residential permission-to-operate timeline, so ask the installer when it expects SDG&E's letter.

Bring the contract with its cover-page disclosure (B&P 7169), which shows the total cost including financing, and the start and completion dates the contract had to state. Add the permit record and the utility's permission-to-operate letter. Customers on NEM 2.0 may stay on that tariff for 20 years from the date they interconnected, and NBT customers keep theirs nine years, so the letter is worth keeping with the report.

What each finding in a written report can be measured against

Ask the inspector to name the rule or document each finding is measured against. For roof layout, the 2022 California Residential Code R324.6 calls for two pathways at least 36 inches wide on separate roof planes, with an 18-inch ridge setback when the array covers 33 percent or less of the plan-view roof area and 36 inches above that. R324.6 exempts roofs with a slope of 2:12 or less. The 2025 code took effect January 1, 2026 and may differ, so ask which edition the report uses.

For equipment, ask for make and model so you can compare them with the CEC's solar equipment lists. The CEC says listing isn't a statewide installation requirement, though some utilities or local governments may ask for it. For production, ask for the system size in kW DC and the tool behind any annual production estimate.

An inspection when you buy or sell a home with solar

If the system is leased or on a power purchase agreement, you don't own it, and CSLB's supporting-information form asks whether the contract can transfer to a new homeowner. Revenue and Taxation Code 73 keeps a new active solar system out of reassessment only if it was completed before January 1, 2027, and those systems stay excluded until a change in ownership. Ask the seller for the completion date and the permit record, and the solar and home sale guide covers the rest of the paperwork.

For a sale, B&P 7195, a statute that doesn't mention solar, defines a home inspection as "a noninvasive, physical examination, performed for a fee in connection with a transfer" of a home of one to four units. It covers the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems and the structural components. Section 7196 holds a home inspector who isn't a general contractor, an architect, a registered engineer or one of the other professions it names to the care "a reasonably prudent home inspector would exercise." Ask whether the array is in scope.

When an inspection finding can't wait

What to gather from the ground and the app

1. Find the contract, the disclosure page and the warranty papers.
2. Locate the permit record and the utility's permission-to-operate letter.
3. Screenshot the monitoring app's output history, and note any error message exactly as shown.

Inspections that come with the permit

The city's inspection is tied to its permit, and our model adds no permit fee to a private inspection. If an inspector recommends work, ask the building department whether the work needs a permit; the interconnection and permits page covers the utility side.

Ask for the company's contractor license number and look it up with your state's licensing board before you sign.

Questions people ask

Keep reading

Guides

• Selling or buying a home with solar panels: property tax, paperwork and what transfers
• Solar quotes: what to compare, and what to get in writing, before you sign
• Utility interconnection timelines: what DTE, Consumers Energy, PG&E, SCE and SDG&E say
• Solar leases, PPAs and loans: the questions to ask before you sign any of them

Related services

• Solar repair
• Solar panel cleaning
• Interconnection and permits
• Inverter replacement

California licensing, code and permit facts · Report a wrong price or rule