Skillnaija All courses →

Your Solar Design Pack

The capstone project for Solar Installation: Design, Install and Commission Home Systems Safely — a free Trades course. Pass it and you earn a certificate anyone can verify.

Start the course free Download the project workbook

The project unlocks once you complete the lessons. The workbook is free to download now so you can see exactly what is expected.

What you will submit

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.

What to do, step by step

  1. Part 1. Survey: choose a real home or small business (yours, a relative's or a client's, with their permission). Record the roof (type, condition, orientation, shade between 9 am and 4 pm), where the battery and inverter would go, cable routes, the distribution board and the earthing, with photos. Do not climb a roof for this project: survey it from the ground, a window or a safe vantage point.
  2. Part 2. Load audit: list every appliance to run on solar with its watts, quantity and hours per day, and the total Wh per day. Say which loads stay off solar and why, and what the client could change to use less. Separate night-time use from daytime use.
  3. Part 3. Sizing, with every step of the working shown: add losses; the array size from your location's peak sun hours and a 0.8 derate; the panel you chose (with its datasheet values) and how many; the string design, checking Vmp against the MPPT window and cool-morning Voc against the maximum input voltage; the battery bank from night-time use and the depth of discharge for your chosen chemistry; and the inverter from the largest simultaneous load, the margin and any motor start surge.
  4. Part 4. Single-line diagram: from the panels to the house board, showing the DC isolator, surge protection, battery fuse or breaker with its rating and position, inverter, changeover, AC protection (MCB and 30 mA RCD) and earthing. Label every cable with its size, and show your voltage-drop sums for the PV run and the battery run.
  5. Part 5. Bill of materials and quote: every item with its specification and a current price you collected (name where you got it; three quotes for the big items if you can). Add labour, transport, contingency, warranty terms and payment milestones. Say how you checked that the main items are genuine.
  6. Part 6. Installation method statement: the order of work and, for each hazardous step (working at height, DC connections, battery connection, AC connection), the safety controls: isolation, test-before-touch, PPE, fall protection and who supervises. State who the qualified, certified installer responsible for the work would be.
  7. Part 7. Commissioning and handover: a commissioning checklist with the expected readings (for example string Voc) and the start-up and shut-down sequence, plus a one-page handover sheet for the client in plain words.

Files to work with

Project workbook (fill in, then submit)The whole brief, an evidence checklist, the grading rubric as a self-check and the link-sharing steps in one file. Opens in Word, Google Docs or WPS.Word · 7 KB

How it is graded

CriterionWeight
Survey and load audit are real, complete and honest, with night and day use separated15%
Sizing is correct with the working shown: losses, array, string limits, battery depth of discharge and inverter surge25%
The single-line diagram is correct and safe: DC-rated protection in the right places, battery fuse at the battery, cable sizes with voltage-drop sums, earthing, RCD and changeover25%
The bill of materials and quote are realistic, with genuine-equipment checks10%
The method statement controls every serious hazard and names supervision by a qualified, certified installer15%
Commissioning checklist and handover sheet are clear and usable10%

You need 70% overall to pass. A human examiner also reviews this safety-critical project before any certificate is issued. A failed submission comes back with feedback and can be revised and resubmitted.

Before you submit: make your link public

If your work lives in Google Drive or Google Docs, open Share → General access and change “Restricted” to “Anyone with the link” (Viewer). Then paste the link into a private browser window: if it opens without sign-in, you are ready. A private link cannot be graded — it is the single most common reason a good project fails.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to finish Solar Installation: Design, Install and Commission Home Systems Safely before submitting the project?

Yes. The submission screen opens once every lesson in Solar Installation: Design, Install and Commission Home Systems Safely is marked complete. The lessons are where the methods, the Nigerian context and the worked examples the project depends on are taught.

How is the project graded?

An examiner scores each rubric criterion from 0 to 100 and weights them as shown on this page; you need 70% overall to pass. Because this is a safety-critical trade, a human examiner also reviews every submission before a certificate is issued.

Can I resubmit if I fail?

Yes. A failed project comes back with feedback; revise the weak parts and resubmit. A passed project is final — the certificate is issued and cannot be re-rolled.

What do I actually submit?

A write-up of what you did (under 5,000 characters) plus a public link to your work — a Google Drive folder, Google Doc, spreadsheet, GitHub repository or video. The link must open without sign-in; a private link cannot be graded. The free project workbook on this page walks you through all 7 steps.

Is the certificate real?

Yes. Passing this project issues a certificate with a unique verification code. Anyone — an employer, a client, a school — can open the verification page and see that the certificate is genuine and which project earned it.

More Trades projects

Ready to earn this certificate?

Solar Installation: Design, Install and Commission Home Systems Safely is free and self-paced. Finish the lessons, complete this project, and the certificate is yours to share.

Start learning free