Solar in Los Angeles depends on which side of the marine layer the roof lives on. Inland valleys and south-facing slopes get long, hard sun. Blocks closer to the water start under a gray morning and then clear. A bungalow roof is often a set of small planes, dormers, and a porch that breaks up the useful area. Tile on a Spanish house is a different attachment than composition on a ranch. Flat and low-slope roofs over additions and garages can take a layout the street face never suggests. Shade from a neighbor's second story, a ficus, or a hill can erase the pretty rectangle you noticed from the driveway.
The roof has to be sound before an array belongs up there. Inland sun cooks composition and underlayment, and covering a tired field means the next leak is underneath hardware. Tile needs a plan that does not crack the field just to reach the deck. Vent pipes, skylights, and swampy low-slope seams steal space and create shade of their own. A west plane produces on a late clock and also takes the worst heat. Ask how the layout treats those planes, not how a brochure treats a perfect south roof in an empty field.
The electrical side is part of the same visit. Older bungalow panels are often crowded, and the path for conduit along stucco, under eaves, and into a garage has to be real. Shutoffs need a place people can reach. Dust and a film of marine air or inland grit land on the glass, and nearby trees drop more. Production will not match a fog-free inland roof if your mornings stay gray, and it will not match a coastal roof if you live against the valley heat. Ask what the layout does when this roof needs work later, because the array and the roofing are now tied together.
Call with the roof you have. Name tile, composition, or a low-slope membrane, and mention stains, soft spots, or a patchwork of additions. Describe shade and whether afternoons are brutal or the marine layer still visits. Mention a crowded panel if you know the cover is full. The conversation should be about fit and production on this Los Angeles roof.
Call the number on this page.