Online course

U.S. Residential Solar Fundamentals

Understand U.S. residential solar systems, from PV cells to household electricity. Explore modules, inverters, batteries, energy flows, net metering, and net billing through diagrams, videos, and worked examples. Utility rules vary by location.

2 hr 22 min · 4 modules · 12 lessons · 2 videos · 2 labs · 12 quick checks

Not yet reviewed

This content has been authored but not yet reviewed by a qualified subject-matter expert.

What you’ll build

Each lab asks you to produce something real and gives you the checklist to judge it against. Write your answer in the lab, and ask for feedback on it.

Calculate an illustrative solar bill
Calculate separate import charges and export credits using explicitly fictional rates.
Explain a complete residential solar system
Produce a plain-language system brief that distinguishes functions, assumptions, and unresolved questions.

Who it’s for

Homeowners, new solar support and sales staff, and beginners who want to understand a residential PV system without doing electrical work.

What it assumes

No electrical background required. Basic multiplication and subtraction. U.S. examples; utility rules vary. No roof access, wiring, or energized-equipment work.

What you’ll be able to do

Photovoltaic fundamentalsfoundational
Solar power and energy unitsfoundational
Residential solar componentsfoundational
Battery and backup fundamentalsfoundational
Solar self-use, import, and exportfoundational
Net metering and net billingfoundational

and 2 more

Solar site and production assumptionsfoundational
Solar operation and handoverfoundational

Credential

Once an expert has reviewed this course, passing its final exam earns a verified credential that appears on your profile where employers can see it. It has not been reviewed yet, so for now the exam is practice: passing it cannot issue a credential, and each attempt still counts toward your limit. 12 questions, 30 minutes, 75% to pass, up to 3 attempts.

Learning is free, and nothing anywhere on the site is charged today. Certification is where a fee is planned, because that is what makes a credential mean something to an employer.

Course content

1 From sunlight to useful electricity
3 lessons · 32 min
Understand photovoltaic generation and the units on a proposal.
1. What residential solar does10 min
  Distinguish photovoltaic electricity from solar heat and trace a basic energy path.
2. Watts, kilowatts, and kilowatt-hours10 min
  Calculate energy from a stated average power and time, and distinguish DC rating from AC output.
3. Inside a solar module12 min
  Explain the roles of cells, module construction, sunlight, temperature, and shade.
2 Meet the system components
3 lessons · 30 min
Connect each component to its function, including storage and outage behavior.
1. Inverters, optimizers, and microinverters10 min
  Distinguish three common conversion arrangements without prescribing a specific product.
2. Racking, wiring, protection, metering, and monitoring10 min
  Match supporting equipment to mechanical, electrical, and information functions.
3. Batteries and what happens in a blackout10 min
  Distinguish energy shifting from backup capability and estimate a simple runtime.
3 Energy flow and the utility bill
3 lessons · 40 min · includes a lab
Separate physical energy from the rules used to value it.
1. Self-consumption, import, and export10 min
  Balance generation and household consumption over a period without a battery.
2. Net metering is a tariff, not a battery10 min
  Explain net metering and net billing and identify the rules that must be checked locally.
3. Lab: calculate an illustrative solar billlab20 min
  Calculate separate import charges and export credits using explicitly fictional rates.
4 Evaluate, operate, and explain a system
3 lessons · 40 min · includes a lab
Assess assumptions and communicate responsibly with installers and utilities.
1. Site suitability and production estimates10 min
  Identify the inputs and limits of a solar-production estimate.
2. From installation to everyday ownership10 min
  Describe permitting, interconnection, commissioning, monitoring, and service responsibilities.
3. Lab: explain a complete residential solar systemlab20 min
  Produce a plain-language system brief that distinguishes functions, assumptions, and unresolved questions.

U.S. Residential Solar Fundamentals

2 hr 22 min · 4 modules · 12 lessons · 2 videos · 2 labs · 12 quick checks

What you’ll build

Each lab asks you to produce something real and gives you the checklist to judge it against. Write your answer in the lab, and ask for feedback on it.

Calculate an illustrative solar bill

Calculate separate import charges and export credits using explicitly fictional rates.

Explain a complete residential solar system

Produce a plain-language system brief that distinguishes functions, assumptions, and unresolved questions.

What you’ll be able to do

Photovoltaic fundamentalsfoundational

Solar power and energy unitsfoundational

Residential solar componentsfoundational

Battery and backup fundamentalsfoundational

Solar self-use, import, and exportfoundational

Net metering and net billingfoundational

and 2 more

Solar site and production assumptionsfoundational
Solar operation and handoverfoundational

Credential

Learning is free, and nothing anywhere on the site is charged today. Certification is where a fee is planned, because that is what makes a credential mean something to an employer.

Course content

1 From sunlight to useful electricity

3 lessons · 32 min

Understand photovoltaic generation and the units on a proposal.

What residential solar does10 min
Distinguish photovoltaic electricity from solar heat and trace a basic energy path.
Watts, kilowatts, and kilowatt-hours10 min
Calculate energy from a stated average power and time, and distinguish DC rating from AC output.
Inside a solar module12 min
Explain the roles of cells, module construction, sunlight, temperature, and shade.

2 Meet the system components

3 lessons · 30 min

Connect each component to its function, including storage and outage behavior.

Inverters, optimizers, and microinverters10 min
Distinguish three common conversion arrangements without prescribing a specific product.
Racking, wiring, protection, metering, and monitoring10 min
Match supporting equipment to mechanical, electrical, and information functions.
Batteries and what happens in a blackout10 min
Distinguish energy shifting from backup capability and estimate a simple runtime.

3 Energy flow and the utility bill

3 lessons · 40 min · includes a lab

Separate physical energy from the rules used to value it.

Self-consumption, import, and export10 min
Balance generation and household consumption over a period without a battery.
Net metering is a tariff, not a battery10 min
Explain net metering and net billing and identify the rules that must be checked locally.
Lab: calculate an illustrative solar billlab20 min
Calculate separate import charges and export credits using explicitly fictional rates.

4 Evaluate, operate, and explain a system

3 lessons · 40 min · includes a lab

Assess assumptions and communicate responsibly with installers and utilities.

Site suitability and production estimates10 min
Identify the inputs and limits of a solar-production estimate.
From installation to everyday ownership10 min
Describe permitting, interconnection, commissioning, monitoring, and service responsibilities.
Lab: explain a complete residential solar systemlab20 min
Produce a plain-language system brief that distinguishes functions, assumptions, and unresolved questions.