To what extent do inspections/red-tape get in the way?

I'm still learning here, so bear with me. As I understand it, permanent installations like roof mounts, anything large-scale, or anything tied to the grid must be inspected and have a permit. I think that's state/county specific, but mostly accurate to what I think California/US rules are?

I want to get solar going with the eventual goal of being 100% solar with my own battery backup- but still grid-tied so my wife doesn't kill me when something eventually goes wrong. I also don't have $25,000 to do this all up-front. If I started with something as small as 4 panels, and I want to increase it gradually over the span of months or years, do I need a re-inspection or new permits every time I change the setup?