LA Fire Rebuilds and Title 24: Do You Still Need Solar?

Executive Order N-29-25 waives the Title 24 solar requirement for rebuilds after the Palisades and Altadena Fires. That is real relief for families already absorbing the cost of rebuilding from the ground up. But waived is not the same as wrong for you, and a growing number of families are choosing to install solar and battery storage anyway.

What Actually Changed Under Title 24

Under normal circumstances, Title 24 requires new construction homes in California to include a solar photovoltaic system sized to a percentage of the home's projected electric use. For homes rebuilding after the fire, the state's emergency rebuild executive order waived that specific requirement, along with the battery storage mandate that came with more recent code updates. The stated goal was to reduce upfront rebuild costs at a moment when families are already stretched thin.

One piece of the original requirement stayed in place: the home still has to be built solar-ready. That means the electrical panel, roof structure, and conduit runs are set up to accept solar and battery equipment later. In practice, every rebuilt home is already partially prepared for solar.

Why the Waiver Exists

The reasoning behind the waiver comes down to cost and timing. Rebuilding a home from a total loss already involves enormous, unavoidable expenses: foundation work, framing, fire-hardened materials, permitting fees, and months of construction before a family can move back in. Removing a mandatory equipment purchase gives families one less line item to finance while they rebuild everything else, at a moment when insurance payouts and personal savings are already stretched across every other part of the project. It is a practical relief measure aimed at speed and affordability, not a statement that solar stopped making sense for these homes.

Why So Many Rebuilding Families Are Installing Anyway

Here is what the waiver does not account for: these are households that just lived through a wildfire, which meant evacuation orders, uncertainty, and extended power shutoffs. That experience changes how someone thinks about energy independence. A battery system that keeps you connected to the news, the refrigerator running, and the lights on during the next power outage is not a luxury upgrade to a family that just went through this. It is peace of mind they did not have before.

Solar paired with battery storage also means a rebuilt home has resiliency during Public Safety Power Shutoffs in the next fire season, which affect many areas in Los Angeles. That kind of resilience carries weight that a code requirement never fully captured in the first place.

The Real Reason Timing Matters

Even setting resiliency aside, rebuilding is the logical point in a home's life to add solar and battery storage. The roof is bare, allowing for integrated solar stanchions with the original weather sealing, and the walls are open, allowing for hidden wiring and conduits. A solar and battery system designed alongside the rest of the home's electrical plan integrates cleanly, with the inverter, panel capacity, battery placement, and backup loads accounted for in the original design.

Waiting until after move-in flips this equation. Retrofitting solar onto a finished home means reopening a roof that is already done, running surface-mounted electrical across the house, and integrating into an electrical system that was not designed with batteries in mind. Nothing about that path is impossible, but it is much more disruptive than doing it during a rebuild that is already underway.

What to Ask Your Builder Now

A few decisions made during the rebuild determine how much flexibility a homeowner keeps, regardless of whether solar goes in immediately. Confirm the home is being built solar-ready, since that is still required and worth verifying rather than assuming. Ask whether the electrical system is being designed to account for a future battery system. If the answer is yes, ask how.

The best approach is to wire a dedicated backup panel now. This panel should feed all your desired backup loads, such as the refrigerator, Wi-Fi, sump pump, security system, lights, and outlets, for a future battery system to intercept. This is one of the most effective ways to reduce future battery retrofit costs.

Frequently asked questions

Is solar still required for Palisades and Altadena Fire rebuilds?

No. The state's rebuild executive order waived the Title 24 requirement to install rooftop solar and battery storage for homes rebuilding after the fire. The home still has to be built solar-ready, meaning it is wired and structurally prepared for solar equipment even if none is installed now.

Does skipping solar now affect resale value later?

It can. Buyers in Los Angeles County increasingly view solar and battery backup as a meaningful feature, particularly in a market where wildfire risk and power reliability are top of mind.

Building It In From the Start

A rebuild is a one-time opportunity to design a home's electrical system exactly the way it should have been the first time, and that includes deciding how much energy independence the household wants going forward. Xero Solar has spent more than fifteen years planning solar and battery systems for households throughout Los Angeles County. Lately, that includes a growing number of families rebuilding after the fire. Begin the conversation early in the rebuild process, while the decisions that matter most are still easy to make.