Los Angeles County · PWP
Solar Panel Installation in Pasadena, CA
Pasadena Water & Power keeps its own net metering terms and a separate permitting path from LA County, and the city's landmark districts add design review on top. Local experience saves weeks.
We are based in Northridge, 20 miles away, and we design Pasadena systems around Pasadena Water & Power’s actual rate structure rather than a national average. Permits go through City of Pasadena Building & Safety. Roofs here are typically clay tile, slate, and composition, which determines the mounting hardware we quote.
Pasadena at a glance
- Electric utility
- PWP
- Pasadena Water & Power
- Peak sun hours
- 5.6 hrs/day
- Annual daily average
- Permitting authority
- City of Pasadena Building & Safety
- Los Angeles County
- Export credit
- ~$0.21/kWh
- PWP net energy metering
- SGIP battery rebate
- Not available
- Municipal utility territory
- From our shop
- 20 miles
- Northridge, CA
A typical Pasadena project
What a $300 bill looks like after
Modeled on PWP’s approximate $0.25 per kWh and 5.6 peak sun hours a day in Pasadena. Your own numbers will differ — this is the shape of the answer, not a quote.
- System size
- 8.8 kW
- ~20 panels
- Annual production
- 14,390 kWh
- after standard derating
- Annual savings
- $3,528
- at today's rates
- Simple payback
- 12.4 yrs
- $102,813 over 25 years
PWP in plain language
Pasadena's own net metering program remains more generous than the CPUC tariff, and the city has its own solar permitting path separate from LA County.
You buy at
$0.31
peak, 4–9pm
You sell at
$0.21
exported surplus
That narrow gap is why solar alone still performs well in Pasadena. A battery here earns its keep through outage protection rather than rate arbitrage, and we will tell you honestly which one you are buying.
Run your own numbers
Pre-set for Pasadena
Already loaded with PWP rates and 5.6 peak sun hours. Move the slider to your bill.
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Who bills you?
Step 3
Your estimate
A Pasadena system
System size
9.2 kW
~21 panels
Saved per year
$3,705
at today's rates
Estimated cost
$45,093
solar + storage, installed
Payback
12.2 yrs
$108,730 over 25 yrs
A different calculation. PWP is a municipal utility, so it sets its own rules and still credits exports near retail — about $0.21 per kilowatt-hour. Solar alone performs well here. A battery is worth buying for outage protection rather than for rate arbitrage, and PWP customers are not eligible for SGIP.
Show the assumptions
Usage derived from $320/mo at PWP’s ~$0.25/kWh blended rate, giving 15,360 kWh a year.
Production at 5.6 peak sun hours a day with a 0.80 derate for inverter, wiring, soiling and heat losses: 15,109 kWh a year.
Self-consumption assumed at 88% of production; the remainder is exported at $0.21/kWh.
25-year figure compounds utility rates at 4.5% a year and degrades panel output 0.5% a year, net of system cost. Planning estimate only, not a quote.
Also in Pasadena
More than panels
Neighborhoods we cover in Pasadena
Bungalow Heaven · Madison Heights · Linda Vista · Hastings Ranch · and everywhere in between.
Pasadena questions
Answered with local numbers
Specific to Pasadena, PWP, and City of Pasadena Building & Safety.
How much does solar cost in Pasadena?
A typical Pasadena home paying around $300 a month to PWP needs roughly a 8.8 kW system, which lands near $28,160 installed before storage. Adding the 13.5 kWh battery we would normally pair with it brings the project to about $43,685. Roof type matters here: clay tile, slate, and composition is what we mostly see in Pasadena, and that affects mounting hardware and labor.
Is solar worth it in Pasadena with PWP?
Pasadena's own net metering program remains more generous than the CPUC tariff, and the city has its own solar permitting path separate from LA County. At 5.6 peak sun hours a day, a 8.8 kW array in Pasadena produces roughly 14,390 kWh a year. Against PWP's approximate $0.25 per kWh, that is around $3,528 of annual value, putting simple payback near 12.4 years.
Who issues solar permits in Pasadena?
Permits for Pasadena go through City of Pasadena Building & Safety, and interconnection is handled separately by Pasadena Water & Power. Those are two different clocks and they do not run in parallel by default. We file both and chase the corrections, which is usually where projects stall when homeowners manage it themselves.
Do you install batteries in Pasadena?
Yes. Note that Pasadena is served by Pasadena Water & Power, a municipal utility, so SGIP rebates are not available — that program is funded by investor-owned utility ratepayers. PWP still credits exports near retail at roughly $0.21 per kWh, so in Pasadena a battery is primarily about outage protection rather than rate arbitrage.
How far is Pasadena from your Northridge shop?
About 20 miles. That is comfortably inside our core service area, so surveys and service calls are quick to schedule.
Nearby
We also serve
Ready for a Pasadena system design?
Send us one PWP bill. We will come back with a layout, a production model, and a real number.