Solar PV Training LLC (SolarPVTraining.com) is an educational platform based in Ohio that provides accredited solar photovoltaic (PV) installation training, textbooks, and curriculum materials. The company specializes in affordable in-person, online, and hybrid courses designed for individuals entering the solar workforce, property owners wanting to install their own systems, and educational institutions looking to establish solar programs.
It offers self-paced online courses like Residential Solar Installation & Design, utilizing its signature textbook, Understanding Photovoltaics. It also provides comprehensive support materials to community colleges & trade schools, including free instructor desk copies, narrated online course access, lab booklets, sample syllabi, and administrative support to help schools become official ETA testing sites.
SolarPVTraining.com is owned by Simply Living friend & partner Jay Warmke, who hosts a weekly podcast called Solar Noon, discussing the latest updates and news in the solar industry.
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Residential Solar Installation & Design Course Now Available
The fully updated Online Residential Installation & Design Course from SolarPVTraining.com is now available! This course is updated with all the latest trends, technologies, standards, and the 2023 National Electric Code. It provides over 46 online hours of clear, easy to follow instruction, labs, quizzes, and videos designed to take students from ground zero to having all the tools needed to design & install a residential solar PV system.
The course tracks with the fully updated 9th edition Understanding Photovoltaics (2025) and includes a pdf version of the textbook along with registration for the class. Designed for those new to solar, this textbook takes students from ground zero to being able to design & install residential solar PV systems. It flows in an easy-to-read manner with integrated quizzes, scores of charts & diagrams, all the bells & whistles that have made it the best-selling solar PV textbook in North America.
Accreditations & Certifications
The training program & textbook are aligned with industry standards and accredited by the two primary solar certification bodies in North America: NABCEP and ETA International. Its curriculum has been approved by ETA for preparing persons interested in obtaining the PV Level 1 Certification and for NABCEP certification. It has also been approved by a number of states for their electrical license continuing education.
Build Your Own Solar Generator
Participants can build their own solar generator or buy a ready-to-assemble kit, which can be assembled and taken apart multiple times to assist students in learning the components & construction of a solar generator. They are essentially stand-alone solar systems in a box, ideal for younger students to be introduced to the concepts of solar energy in a manageable & achievable way.
More About the Course
The course is designed for those new to solar and is ideal for those wishing to install a system on their home or business, understand what they are getting into if they are hiring someone to install a system, or enter the rapidly growing PV industry as a career.
Participants work with a functional PV system, dismantling & re-installing it, troubleshooting & ensuring its proper operation. There are six weekly Zoom sessions to review progress, held each Tuesday at 1 pm (they are also recorded and posted on YouTube).
At the end, there is 2-day session in Marietta. The first day is a hands-on session, and the second day there is review for the exam in the morning and taking the certification exam in the afternoon. The cost of the course includes the $155 fee to ETA International for the certification exam.
Practical Solar PV training labs
Course participants work with the components used in the field, including tracking, combiner boxes, junction boxes, AC disconnects, DC disconnects, surge suppressors, service panels, SolarEdge optimizer systems, and Enphase micro inverter systems.
Hands-on tasks included in the labs include: (1) using an irradiance meter to measure the energy in sunlight, (2) wiring & installing an Enphase micro inverter system, (3) wiring & installing a SolarEdge power optimizer system, (4) wiring & installing a string inverter system, (5) connecting & testing batteries in series & parallel, (6) creating a simple circuit, (7) using a Solar Pathfinder to conduct shading analysis, (8) wiring & connecting a hybrid system that incorporates a wind turbine & load dump, (9) wiring & connecting a solar generator (small standalone system), (10) testing the output of a solar panel using meters under various conditions, (11) working with conduit (bending EMT, working with liquid tight), (12) terminating & connecting wire (including MC4 connectors).