Chapter 1 of 614% of exam

Planning and Estimating

Planning and Estimating is 14 percent of the CSLB C-46 examination. It asks you to judge a site and a customer's needs, lay out a code-compliant system, read the plans, and price the job under California's solar consumer-protection rules. The PrepPass CSLB C-46 Solar Study Guide covers this area in depth, with worked examples and a chapter quiz.

Site and customer evaluation

Start from a year of electricity use, then look at orientation, tilt, shade and the roof's age. California law protects collectors from certain new shade and limits what HOAs may require.

Size from annual use

Twelve months of kWh from the bills, adjusted for loads the customer plans to add.

DOE, Planning a Home Solar Electric System

Best annual orientation

True south, tilted at about the site's latitude; nearby southeast and southwest roofs can still work.

DOE, Solar Photovoltaic System Design Basics

Solar Shade Control Act

New trees or shrubs may not shade more than 10% of a collector between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. standard time.

Public Resources Code 25982

HOA limits

For PV, a restriction is unreasonable if it adds more than $1,000 or cuts efficiency more than 10%.

Civil Code 714

System design

String voltage rises in the cold and falls in the heat, and PV current carries built-in safety factors.

Cold string voltage

Module Voc × modules in series × a cold correction factor must stay under the equipment and system limits.

California Solar Permitting Guidebook

PV current factors

1.25 for irradiance above test conditions, and 1.25 again for conductors — 1.56 combined.

Sandia, PV Power Systems and the NEC

Expected losses

PVWatts applies a default 14% total system loss.

NREL PVWatts Version 5 Manual

Permits, contracts and costs

Small rooftop systems get expedited, nondiscretionary permits; residential solar contracts carry required disclosures.

Expedited permits

Systems up to 10 kW AC on single or duplex family dwellings qualify for a streamlined process with one inspection.

Government Code 65850.5

Disclosure document

The CSLB solar disclosure document goes on the front page of the contract in boldface 16-point type.

Business and Professions Code 7169

Down payment

The lesser of $1,000 or 10% of the contract price.

Business and Professions Code 7159

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