Free DIY Guide

Your complete solar installation guide.

14 chapters covering everything from initial assessment to final inspection. Written by an engineer with 12+ years of residential solar experience.

Is DIY Solar Right for You?

Assess your skills, comfort level, and situation to decide if a DIY solar install makes sense.

Understand your electric bill, usage patterns, and what you want your solar system to achieve.

Evaluate your roof, shading, orientation, and structural capacity for solar panels.

Calculate the right system size and estimate production using real tools and sun-hour data.

Select panels, inverters, racking, and balance-of-system components for your project.

String sizing, wire gauges, OCPD, rapid shutdown, and single-line diagrams — the full engineering walkthrough.

Roof loads, rail spacing, attachment spacing, rafter layout, and flashing — the structural side of solar.

Navigate your local AHJ requirements and prepare a permit application that gets approved.

Complete utility interconnection paperwork and get permission to operate.

Essential safety practices for working with electrical systems and on rooftops.

Everything you need in your toolkit to install a residential solar system.

Step-by-step roof installation: L-feet, flashing, rails, bonding, and panel mounting.

Homerun wiring, conduit runs, inverter connections, AC disconnect, and pre-energization checklist.

Prepare for your inspection, commission the system, and verify everything works.

Ready to start? Begin with Chapter 1.