The Solar Primer

A training reference for solar PV installers.

This is a single reference spanning the whole solar PV trade: the science underneath it, the hardware, how to size and design a system, the electrical code, how to physically install and commission it, how to keep it running, the business around it, and the careers and credentials that structure the industry.

It is written to four ends: Educate (teach the why, not just the steps), Disintermediate (give you the primary knowledge so you depend less on gatekept training), Innovate (show where the field is moving), and Build (every concept ends at something you can do).

Reading paths:

• Newcomer: Parts I → II → III in order. Don’t rush the foundations; everything downstream is built on Part I.
• Aspiring installer: Parts I–VIII, with Part IV (Design & Sizing) and Part V (Electrical & Code) as the core.
• Designer / engineer: Parts I, II, IV, V, and the modeling appendix.
• Sales / business: Parts II (lightly), III, X, XI.
• Reference user: jump via the Master Table of Contents; each chapter is self-contained with cross-references.

Conventions: Worked examples are boxed as Example. Field-practice cautions are flagged ⚠️. Units are SI with US customary in parentheses where the trade uses them. Formula symbols are defined at first use and collected in Appendix B.