Guide · Permits
In six of the nine San Gabriel Valley cities we serve, the city permit itself can be issued the same day through SolarAPP+, the state-required automated plan check. Azusa and Walnut use an expedited manual path, and Glendora has a three-day ordinance while its SolarAPP+ rollout is pending. The step that takes the longest is almost never the city. It is SCE's permission to operate, which comes after the final inspection and depends on SCE's queue.
Facts checked September 21, 2026
Every rooftop solar project in California goes through the same three gates, and the calendar is decided by how each one is handled where you live.
A 2022 California law, SB 379, required cities with more than 50,000 residents to run an automated online solar permitting platform by September 30, 2023, and cities between 5,000 and 50,000 by September 30, 2024. The platform has to verify code compliance and issue the permit in real time for residential solar up to 38.4 kW AC and for batteries paired with solar. Most cities met the requirement with SolarAPP+, a tool built by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The contractor enters the design, the software checks it, and the approval number goes to the city, which issues the permit without a plan checker.
| City | Permit path | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| West Covina | SolarAPP+, approval emailed to the Building Division, inspections booked by phone, Monday through Thursday | The city prefers flush-mounted arrays off street-facing roof planes. West Covina runs its own fire department, so batteries are reviewed by the city's Fire Prevention Bureau. |
| Covina | SolarAPP+, then the city's online permitting portal, inspections booked in the portal | Roof-mounted systems on the main dwelling only. Batteries follow the city's energy storage handout: planning clearance, LA County Fire approval before the permit, UL 9540 listed unit, and the county's placement rules. |
| Glendora | Civic Access online portal; SolarAPP+ listed as coming soon | The city's expedited small-solar ordinance requires eligible rooftop permits to be issued within three days. An LA County Fire notification form is required for solar and any battery. |
| Azusa | Expedited manual submittal by email for systems of 10 kW or less | Azusa Light and Water must issue a release form first, after receiving the signed interconnection agreement and the state consumer protection guide. After the city final, the utility inspects and installs the net meter itself. |
| San Dimas | SolarAPP+, approval uploaded to the online Permit Center, permit emailed | Inspections are booked for the next business day. The city requires conduit painted to match, modules 12 inches from edges and ridges, and flush mounting. Since January 1, 2026, plans must follow the 2025 California codes. |
| La Verne | SolarAPP+ built into the city's own permit portal, inspections scheduled online | The Building Department is closed on Fridays. Licensed contractors only. |
| Walnut | Expedited over-the-counter process at City Hall for systems of 10 kW AC or less | SolarAPP+ lists Walnut as a participating jurisdiction, but the city's own page still describes paper forms at the counter. We confirm the current path before filing. City Hall is closed on Fridays. |
| Diamond Bar | Instant Solar Permit: SolarAPP+, then the city's online portal | The contractor needs a Diamond Bar business license. Battery projects get an LA County Fire inspection before the city final. Inspections run Monday through Thursday. |
| Pomona | SolarAPP+, then an auto-issued permit through the city's online EnerGov portal | Rooftop systems up to 38.4 kW AC on the main dwelling. Batteries must meet LA County Fire requirements. Homes in one of the city's historic districts need a certificate of appropriateness before the permit. |
Some addresses carry a city name but sit outside city limits. West San Dimas, also called Mesa Oaks, is a county island inside San Dimas. Vincent, south of Arrow Highway, has Covina mailing addresses, and the part of Charter Oak north of Arrow is unincorporated as well. Permits for those parcels go through Los Angeles County Building and Safety, with the county's own process and fees rather than the city's SolarAPP+ path. We look up the parcel before we quote so nobody is surprised at filing time.
A Tesla Powerwall rides on the same permit as the solar in a SolarAPP+ city, but the fire authority gets involved. In the cities served by Los Angeles County Fire, that means the county's placement rules: lithium batteries go in the garage or outdoors, not inside living space; outdoor units keep clearances from property lines, doors, windows, vents, and vegetation; and installations are grouped in blocks of no more than 20 kWh. Diamond Bar and Covina route the battery to county fire before the city signs off. West Covina and La Verne run their own fire departments rather than contracting with the county, so expect the fire review there to come from the city; West Covina's page confirms its Fire Prevention Bureau handles it.
You sign the application packet. VertX draws the plan set to the current code cycle, runs the SolarAPP+ review or files the manual submittal, pays the permit fee, books the inspections, and files the SCE interconnection application the day the city final passes. If your utility is Azusa Light and Water, we walk the agreement to the utility's customer service counter first. What we cannot do is speed up the utility's queue, so we tell you where the application stands at each step instead of guessing a date.
Common questions
SolarAPP+ is an automated plan-check platform built by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. A licensed contractor enters the system design, the software checks it against the building and electrical codes, and it issues an approval number the city accepts in place of a human plan review. California law SB 379 required cities over 5,000 people to offer an automated solar permit system like it by 2023 or 2024. Six of the nine San Gabriel Valley cities we serve use it today.
Usually the last one: Southern California Edison's permission to operate. The city permit can be same-day in a SolarAPP+ city, the installation is typically a day or two, and the city inspection is booked within days. SCE's interconnection review and permission-to-operate letter depend on its queue, and that is where most of the calendar time goes. In Azusa, the local utility does its own inspection and installs the meter instead.
Yes, but batteries add a fire review in most cities. SolarAPP+ handles solar with paired storage, and Diamond Bar, Covina, and Glendora route battery projects to Los Angeles County Fire for approval or inspection. West Covina runs its own fire department, so its Fire Prevention Bureau reviews batteries there. Placement rules such as garage or outdoor locations with clearances apply everywhere.
Some addresses are unincorporated Los Angeles County with a city mailing address: West San Dimas (Mesa Oaks) inside San Dimas, Vincent south of Arrow Highway with Covina addresses, and the part of Charter Oak north of Arrow. Those parcels permit through LA County Building and Safety, not the city, with a different process and fee schedule. We check jurisdiction from the parcel before quoting.
Sign. VertX prepares the plan set, runs the SolarAPP+ review or files the manual submittal, pays the fees, schedules the inspections, and files the SCE interconnection application. In Azusa we also take the utility agreement and the state consumer protection guide to Azusa Light and Water for the release form before the city will accept the permit.
