SPAN Smart Panel Installation in San Jose and Santa Clara County. Add the Load, Skip the Service Upgrade.

Often, yes. A SPAN panel is a listed Energy Management System (EMS). Its PowerUp feature monitors every circuit in real time and briefly pauses lower-priority loads (say, EV charging or the water heater) so the home never exceeds its service rating. Under NEC 220.70 (in force in California under the 2025 California Electrical Code), the EMS's maximum current setpoint is the value used in the service load calculation, which can let a 100A or 150A home take on new EV or heat-pump load without upsizing the service or the utility transformer, a change that can otherwise run $10,000 or more. Whether it works for your home depends on your actual loads, which we confirm with a load calculation and submit to the city for plan check.

Yes. California adopted the 2025 California Electrical Code (Title 24, Part 3), which is based on the 2023 NEC, effective January 1, 2026. That edition includes Article 750 (Energy Management Systems) and Section 220.70, which together permit an EMS setpoint to be used as the calculated load. The panel must be field-marked with its maximum current setting and a note that the setting must not be bypassed, per NEC 750.30. Local building departments still review the load calculation as part of the permit, so we prepare the calculation and the SPAN listing documentation up front.

The biggest one is local. Silicon Valley Power offers up to $4,000 (up to $6,000 for income-qualified customers) toward a qualifying smart panel installed to avoid a main-service upgrade, and SPAN is on SVP's qualifying-products list. That rebate is only for SVP electric customers in the City of Santa Clara, so it does not apply to homes served by PG&E or City of Palo Alto Utilities. A pre-installation application is required, so we set that up before any work starts. If you add a SPAN Drive EV charger, PG&E's Residential EV Charging rebate may apply for PG&E customers, and SVP has a separate residential EV charger rebate for Santa Clara city homes, with the current per-station amount listed on the SVP rebates page. On the federal side, the 25C credit that used to cover panel upgrades expired December 31, 2025 and is not available for 2026. We verify your specific eligibility when we price your project.

Typical installed projects run $10,000 to $25,000 depending on scope. A like-for-like swap in the existing panel location sits at the low end. Relocating the panel to a better wall, replacing deteriorated service conductors or a riser, adding the SPAN Drive EV charger, or tying in solar and a battery all move the number up. Permits vary by city and typically add $500 to $1,000 depending on jurisdiction. We quote SPAN as an installed project rather than hardware plus a separate labor line, and the written quote follows a free on-site assessment. Where the Silicon Valley Power smart panel rebate applies, it comes off the top.

Usually not on the line item alone, and we will tell you which way the math runs for your home. A conventional 100A to 200A service upgrade runs about $7,000 to $10,000, while a SPAN project typically runs $10,000 to $25,000. SPAN wins when the conventional upgrade is unusually expensive (a utility transformer or service-conductor upgrade, a long underground lateral, a meter relocation), when you want circuit-level visibility and app control, or when a battery is in the plan and SPAN replaces the separate critical-loads subpanel you would otherwise have to build. If all you want is an EV charger on a panel that is safe but short on calculated capacity, a listed load management device at roughly $1,200 to $2,500 is the cheaper path, and we will point you there.

SPAN's current lineup has five models. The MAIN 32 is the flagship (32 controllable circuits, 225A busbar, a 100-200A main breaker) and it fits most homes across Santa Clara County. The MAIN 16 is a smaller, lower-cost option; the MLO 24 and MLO 48 are main-lug-only panels (no main breaker) for specific configurations and new construction. The MAIN 40 +MID adds a built-in microgrid interconnection device, which simplifies tying in solar and a battery without a separate component. We match the model to your circuit count, panel location, and whether solar or battery backup is part of the plan.

Yes. A SPAN panel replaces the separate critical-loads subpanel that battery backup normally requires, and lets you choose backup-priority circuits in the app, and change them whenever you want. It works with Tesla Powerwall 2, Powerwall+, and Powerwall 3, Enphase IQ Battery (via the SPAN Remote Meter Kit), SolarEdge Home Hub, and FranklinWH, on both AC- and DC-coupled solar. How much of the home runs during an outage depends on your battery's capacity and continuous output, not on SPAN itself. SPAN manages which circuits draw power and for how long, and the app shows estimated backup time remaining.

Possibly. The SPAN Drive is a Level 2 charger (up to 48A / 11.5 kW) that installs only with a SPAN panel (it is not sold as a standalone charger) and it adjusts its charge rate in real time based on what the rest of the house is using. PG&E's Residential EV Charging rebate may apply for PG&E customers: up to 50% of the charger cost under the standard option, or up to $2,000 (up to $5,000 when a panel upgrade is bundled) for income-qualified households. Silicon Valley Power customers in the City of Santa Clara have their own residential charger rebate, with the current per-station amount listed on the SVP rebates page. Eligibility depends on each program's current approved-equipment list, which we check at application rather than promising it up front.

Start with SPAN's own certified-installer locator, because that is the filter that matters: a panel put in by anyone outside the program cannot be commissioned and loses the 10-year warranty. From there, check for a current California C-10 license, ask whether the installer prepares the EMS load calculation and the SPAN listing documentation for plan check (that paperwork is what earns the no-service-upgrade approval), and confirm they coordinate the utility disconnect and reconnect rather than leaving it to you. Cali Rollin Electric is a SPAN Certified Installer working out of a shop in Morgan Hill, roughly 20 miles south of downtown San Jose, and our crew covers all 15 Santa Clara County cities.

No. SPAN requires that every panel be installed and commissioned by an installer credentialed through its program, and only a credentialed installer can set up your account. A do-it-yourself SPAN panel installation voids the 10-year manufacturer warranty, and a panel change is permitted work that has to pass a city inspection, done with the panel de-energized, verified dead, and locked out, with only the utility side handled live and only where that cannot be avoided. Cali Rollin Electric is a SPAN Certified Installer and a C-10 electrical contractor (#1144031), so the install, the permit, and the warranty are all handled correctly.

A straightforward SPAN swap takes about 3 to 8 hours, similar to a standard panel replacement. The SPAN panel carries a NEMA 3R enclosure rating, so it can be installed indoors or outdoors, and connects over Ethernet, Wi-Fi, and cellular (4G/LTE) backup. We coordinate the utility disconnect and reconnect (PG&E across most of Santa Clara County, Silicon Valley Power in the City of Santa Clara), pull the permit, and meet code working clearances: 36 inches of clear depth in front of the panel, 30 inches of width, and 6 feet 6 inches of headroom per NEC 110.26.

The panel connects over Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or built-in cellular (4G/LTE) backup, so the app stays reachable when home internet is out. We set connectivity up during commissioning and confirm signal at the panel location before we leave, which matters because panels commonly sit in a garage, a utility closet, or on an exterior wall where Wi-Fi is weakest. If the best answer at your house is a hardwired Ethernet run to the panel, we price that with the job rather than leaving it for you to solve later.