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Solar Installation: Design, Install and Commission Home Systems Safely

Size, wire, mount and commission solar systems for Nigerian homes the safe, professional way: load audits, strings, batteries, inverters, protection, testing and handover.

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About this course

A hands-on course that follows one real-feeling job from survey to switch-on: a hybrid solar system for a four-bedroom home in Ibadan. You will learn the electricity every installer must master and how to use a multimeter safely, run a site survey and a proper load audit, size the panels, design a string that fits the inverter, choose and size lithium or lead-acid batteries, pick the right inverter and charge controller, size cables by current and voltage drop, and protect the system with DC-rated fuses, isolators, surge protection, earthing and an RCD, drawn up as a single-line diagram. Then you will mount an array and work at height safely, install and wire step by step, test and commission the system, hand it over, maintain it and find faults, and learn how to quote, buy genuine equipment and work legally with NEMSA certification. Lessons include narrated animated explainers, credited photos and short silent clips of real installation work. Videos play only when you tap them, so no data is used until you choose. This course teaches the knowledge; the hands-on work is done under a qualified, certified installer until you are certified yourself. Free, like every Skillnaija course.

Emeka Obi arrives at Sunright Energy's workshop in Ibadan at 7.30 am on his first day, early and eager. Before he can sit down, Engr. Halima Musa drops a short length of battery cable on the bench. The insulation near one end is brown and bubbled, the copper strands under it are black, and the lug is not crimped at all: the bare wire was simply twisted round the terminal. "We removed this from a house in Bodija last week," she says. "Someone sold them a system in two days and wired it in one. The cable was too thin, there was no fuse, and it cooked slowly until the store room filled with smoke. Nobody died. They were lucky." She looks at him. "Measure twice, isolate once, and never trust a wire you have not tested. That is the whole job. Everything else is detail."

What you'll learn

Course syllabus — 12 lessons

  1. How a solar power system works, and what an installer really does16 min
  2. The electricity you must master (and your multimeter)17 min
  3. The site survey and the load audit17 min
  4. Sizing the array and designing the string17 min
  5. Batteries: choosing, sizing and handling them safely17 min
  6. Inverters, charge controllers and changeovers17 min
  7. Cables, protection and earthing: the single-line diagram18 min
  8. Mounting the array and working at height safely18 min
  9. Installing and wiring step by step17 min
  10. Testing, commissioning and handing over17 min
  11. Maintenance and troubleshooting17 min
  12. Running a solar installation business16 min

Your project

Your Solar Design Pack

One shared link (a Google Doc, or a folder with view access) containing every part, with photos and the diagram (hand-drawn and photographed is fine). Do not include the client's address or personal details beyond the town.

Certificates on Skillnaija are earned, not issued for attendance: you submit this project, it is graded against a rubric, and passing issues a certificate anyone can verify. See the full project brief, rubric and free workbook →

Frequently asked questions

Is Solar Installation: Design, Install and Commission Home Systems Safely free?

Yes. Solar Installation: Design, Install and Commission Home Systems Safely is completely free on Skillnaija. You need a free account to open the lessons, and there is no charge for the course, the project, or the certificate.

How long does Solar Installation: Design, Install and Commission Home Systems Safely take to complete?

8 weeks · ~5 hrs/week. There are 12 lessons, about 3 hours of material in total. You learn at your own pace and your progress is saved.

Do I need any experience to start Solar Installation: Design, Install and Commission Home Systems Safely?

Beginner-friendly; no electrical experience needed to start. You can start from scratch — no prior experience is assumed.

What will I learn in Solar Installation: Design, Install and Commission Home Systems Safely?

You will build practical skills in Site surveys and load audits, Array sizing and string design, Battery selection and sizing (lithium and lead-acid), Inverters, charge controllers and changeovers, Cable sizing and voltage drop, DC and AC protection, surge protection and earthing, Single-line diagrams, Working at height and electrical safety, Installation, testing and commissioning, Maintenance and fault finding, Quoting and running a solar business legally. Every lesson is written for a Nigerian context, with examples drawn from how the work is actually done and paid for here.

Do I get a certificate for Solar Installation: Design, Install and Commission Home Systems Safely?

Yes, but it has to be earned. You complete the course project — Your Solar Design Pack and submit it for grading. Passing the project issues a verifiable certificate; finishing the lessons alone does not.

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