Solar Panel Installer CV Examples & Writing Guide
A solar installer CV is read for three things: how much you have installed (systems, kW, panel count), your safety and quality record, and your qualifications. A Level 3 solar PV award, the 18th Edition, CSCS and IPAF belong near the top, along with the mounting, inverter and battery brands you have worked with.
Solar panel installer CV example (domestic lead installer)
A fictional CV for a lead installer on domestic and small commercial rooftop work. If you do ground mount, solar farms or service and repair, keep the structure and change the system sizes and equipment. Adverts use several titles for the same job: solar installer, PV installer, solar panel fitter and solar PV technician.
Cody R. Whitfield (fictional example)
Lead Solar PV Installer | Domestic and Small Commercial
Exeter · 07700 900164 | c.whitfield@example.com | Solar PV trained | 18th Edition | CSCS
Summary
Solar PV installer with 9 years in the trades and 7 in solar, including 4 leading a 4-person team. Installed about 420 domestic systems totalling 2.4 MW, passed 98% of quality checks first time, and worked 1,600 roof days with no fall incidents. Trained in solar PV installation and 18th Edition qualified since 2023.
Experience
Lead Solar PV Installer · Westcountry Sun Energy (MCS-certified domestic and small commercial installer)
Mar 2022 - Present
- Lead a 4-person team installing 4 kW to 9 kW rooftop systems on concrete tile, slate and metal roofs, averaging 5 completed systems a week.
- Fit roof hooks and flashing, build Renusol and Schletter rails, and land 34 to 44 panels a day to the manufacturer's torque settings with a documented torque check on every clamp.
- Hold a 98% first-time pass on QA sign-off across 190 systems by checking DC isolator labelling, cable routing and test results before the electrical sign-off.
- Cut warranty recalls to 1.2% of installs by adding a 12-point commissioning checklist covering string voltage, insulation resistance, module-level readings and roof penetration seals.
- Trained 7 new installers on working at height, roof ladder and scaffold safety, and panel handling; all 7 passed the company field competency check within 60 days.
Solar PV Installer · Sunridge Energy Services (domestic installer)
May 2019 - Feb 2022
- Installed roughly 230 domestic systems totalling 1.3 MW, working 5 days a week through summer heatwaves above 30°C with a strict hydration and rotation plan.
- Ran containment, pulled DC and AC cables, and terminated at DC and AC isolators under the supervision of a qualified electrician on every job.
- Commissioned 180 Enphase microinverter systems and registered them to the monitoring platform, resolving 40 communication faults on site instead of booking a return visit.
- Completed 24 battery storage installs, including 18 Tesla Powerwall units, with no rework at sign-off.
Apprentice Roofer · Exe Valley Roofing (domestic re-roofing contractor)
Jun 2017 - Apr 2019
- Stripped and re-felted about 90 domestic roofs, learning flashing, underlay and leadwork detail that later cut leak recalls on solar fixings.
- Worked 400+ days on pitched roofs up to 35 degrees using scaffold edge protection, roof ladders and harnesses where required, with no reportable incidents.
Education
Solar PV installation course (small-scale systems)
Further education college, Exeter, 2019
BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma in Construction
Sixth form college, Exeter, 2017
Certifications
- 18th Edition Wiring Regulations (BS 7671), City & Guilds 2382, 2023
- NVQ Level 2 Roof Slating and Tiling, 2019
- CSCS card, valid to 2027
- Working at height and harness inspection training, 2024
- IPAF 3a and 3b (scissor and boom MEWPs), 2023
- Emergency First Aid at Work, renewed 2025
- Full UK driving licence, clean
Skills
What a solar team leader checks first
Solar hiring is seasonal and fast. The person reading your CV is trying to fill a van by Monday and is asking whether you will be productive, safe and insurable. Four things decide it.
- Volume installed. Systems, kW or MW, and panels per day. "About 420 systems, 2.4 MW" is the fastest way to prove you are not new.
- Safety record with a period attached: "1,600 roof days with no fall incidents". Solar carries a real fall risk and insurers price it.
- Quality and recall numbers. First-time QA pass rate and warranty recall rate tell a team leader whether your work needs babysitting.
- Qualifications and equipment brands. A solar PV award, the 18th Edition, CSCS, IPAF, and the mounting, inverter and battery lines you already know.
“I want to know your panel count per day and whether you have ever failed a quality check twice on the same house. Everything else I can teach. If a CV tells me the mounting brands and the inverter platform someone has commissioned, that person is in my van in a week.”
Solar installer personal statement and career objective examples
Three lines. Years, volume, one safety or quality number, then qualifications. Use a career objective only if you are coming into solar from another trade or from nothing.
Solar PV installer with 7 years on domestic rooftops and 4 leading a 4-person team. About 420 systems and 2.4 MW installed, 98% first-time QA pass and 1,600 roof days with no fall incidents. Solar PV installation course and 18th Edition.
Solar technician with 5 years on commercial rooftop and ground-mount arrays from 250 kW to 2 MW, including piling layout, frame assembly and string commissioning across 14 sites. CSCS and IPAF boom lift certified.
Solar service technician who fault-finds underperforming systems: 380 service calls in 2025, 74% closed on the first visit, with IV curve testing, earth fault isolation and inverter replacement on Enphase, SolarEdge and SMA equipment.
Roofer with 6 years on pitched domestic roofs and a new solar PV installation certificate, looking for an entry solar installer place. Comfortable at height on scaffold and roof ladders, familiar with flashing and leadwork detail, and available for early starts through the summer season.
Solar installer job description for a CV: weak vs strong bullets
The duty list on a solar job advert fits every installer in the country. Keep the duty and add the equipment, the volume and the outcome.
| Weak (copied duty) | Strong (your version) |
|---|---|
| Installed solar panels on domestic roofs. | Installed about 420 domestic systems totalling 2.4 MW on concrete tile, slate and metal roofs, averaging 5 completed systems a week. |
| Fitted mounting systems and panels. | Fitted roof hooks and flashing, built Renusol and Schletter rails, and landed 34 to 44 panels a day to the manufacturer's torque settings with a documented torque check on every clamp. |
| Ran electrical cables. | Ran DC and AC containment and pulled cables to isolators on 230 systems, terminated under a qualified electrician on every job. |
| Commissioned systems. | Commissioned 180 Enphase microinverter systems and cleared 40 communication faults on site rather than booking a return visit. |
| Followed safety procedures. | Worked 1,600 roof days on pitches up to 35 degrees using scaffold edge protection, roof ladders and harnesses with no reportable fall incidents in 5 years. |
| Passed quality checks. | Held a 98% first-time pass on QA sign-off across 190 systems by checking DC isolator labelling and cable routing before the electrical sign-off. |
| Installed battery storage. | Completed 24 storage installs including 18 Powerwall units, all signed off with no rework. |
| Trained new team members. | Trained 7 new installers on working at height, roof ladder and scaffold safety, and panel handling; all 7 passed the field competency check within 60 days. |
If you never counted, estimate from your schedule: systems per week times weeks worked, or average system size times system count for kW. An honest estimate beats a blank.
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Skills to put on a solar installer CV
Name brands and specifics. A generic list of "solar installation, teamwork, safety" tells a team leader nothing about what you can do unsupervised.
- Roof work: roof hooks and flashing on concrete tile, plain tile, slate and metal; in-roof systems; ballasted layouts on flat roofs
- Mounting systems by brand: Renusol, Schletter, K2 Systems, Van der Valk
- Panel handling, clamping, torque settings and documentation
- Containment, cable pulling, terminations, earthing and bonding
- String sizing checks, DC isolation and PV warning labels
- Inverter platforms: Enphase microinverters, SolarEdge optimisers, SMA and Fronius string inverters
- Battery storage: Powerwall, GivEnergy, Enphase IQ Battery, isolator and backup gateway installs
- Test equipment: multimeter, clamp meter, insulation resistance tester, IV curve tracer, irradiance meter
- Working at height: scaffold edge protection, roof ladders, harness and anchors
- Scissor lift, boom lift and telehandler operation
- Reading drawings, single-line diagrams and fixing details
- Commissioning records, handover packs and DNO notification paperwork
- Customer-facing work: explaining the monitoring app and the isolators to a homeowner without jargon
Heat, weather and early starts are part of this job. A line like "worked 5-day weeks through the summer heatwave above 30°C on a rotation and hydration plan" says more about your reliability than any adjective.
Solar installer CV with no experience
Solar companies hire installer's mates with no solar background constantly, especially before the spring and summer season. What they screen out is anyone who looks like a fall risk or an unreliable ride. Fix those two worries on paper.
- 1Get a CSCS card and, if you can afford it, a short solar PV awareness course. Both signal you are serious.
- 2Say plainly that you are comfortable at height and have used a harness or worked from scaffold, and give a place you did it: roofing, scaffolding, tree work, window cleaning, warehouse racking.
- 3Put your driving licence status on the CV. Teams travel and insurance drives hiring.
- 4Convert physical jobs into numbers: kilograms lifted, units placed per day, hours worked outdoors, days without an incident.
- 5State your availability: 7am starts, Saturdays in peak season, willingness to travel to sites 60 to 90 minutes away.
Worked 400+ days on pitched domestic roofs up to 35 degrees using scaffold edge protection, roof ladders and harnesses, stripping and re-felting about 90 roofs with no reportable incidents.
Moved and staged 300 to 400 units a shift outdoors in temperatures above 30°C, with a perfect attendance record over 18 months and a counterbalance forklift certificate.
Completed a 12-week solar PV installation course covering array layout, mounting assembly, DC wiring and commissioning, plus a CSCS card in July 2026 and Emergency First Aid at Work.
Qualifications, schemes and what UK rules expect
Only a few credentials carry real weight in solar hiring. List them with the year earned, because several expire or need refreshing.
- A Level 3 solar PV installation award for small-scale systems: the standard installer qualification, usually taken alongside or after electrical qualifications. Name the awarding body and the year.
- The 18th Edition (BS 7671) and, for senior roles, inspection and testing (City & Guilds 2391 or equivalent). The AC side of an install is electrical work, and qualified electricians move into lead and commissioning roles. It usually moves your pay.
- Battery storage and EV charger installation awards if you are moving toward storage, design or commissioning work.
- A CSCS card. Many sites will not let you on without one.
- Working at height and harness training, plus IPAF for scissor and boom lifts and PASMA for mobile towers.
- Scheme rules: domestic systems that need to qualify for the Smart Export Guarantee are installed by MCS-certified companies, and the electrical work is usually notified through a competent person scheme such as NICEIC or NAPIT. These are company registrations, so say which schemes your employer worked under rather than claiming them yourself.
- Manufacturer training from inverter and battery brands, which is usually free online and lets you commission and warranty their equipment.
- First Aid at Work or Emergency First Aid at Work, and a clean driving licence.
Format, length and words to mirror from the advert
- One page. Solar hiring managers read fast and often on a phone in a van.
- Order: name and contact with qualifications, personal statement, experience, skills, qualifications, education.
- PDF unless the advert asks otherwise. No photo and no date of birth on a UK CV.
- Plain single-column layout. Larger installers use applicant tracking systems that read text, not graphics.
- Add a short line on travel and shift availability. Willingness to travel to sites an hour away is a genuine differentiator in this trade.
Mirror the advert's own words inside your bullets:
- Title variants: solar installer, PV installer, solar panel fitter, solar PV technician, renewable energy installer.
- System words: domestic rooftop, in-roof, ground mount, flat roof ballasted, carport, battery storage, microinverter, string inverter.
- Equipment brands the advert names: Enphase, SolarEdge, GivEnergy, Renusol, Tesla Powerwall.
- Compliance words: MCS, BS 7671, IET Code of Practice, DNO notification, competent person scheme, handover pack.
- Safety words: CSCS, working at height, harness, scaffold, IPAF.
Frequently asked questions
How do I write a solar panel installer CV?
Lead with a three-line personal statement that gives your years, systems or kW installed, one safety number and your main qualifications. Then list each job with bullets that name the mounting, inverter and battery brands and include real counts: panels a day, systems a week, QA pass rate, recalls. Keep it to one page.
What does a solar panel installer do, for a CV job description?
Survey the roof and lay out the array, fit roof hooks and flashing, assemble the mounting system, place and torque panels, run DC and AC cables and containment, terminate at isolators, install inverters and batteries, commission and register the system, prepare the paperwork for sign-off and DNO notification, and handle service calls. Turn each into a bullet with numbers.
What qualifications do you need to be a solar panel installer?
Most entry jobs need a full driving licence, a CSCS card and the ability to work at height in all weathers. Lead installers usually hold electrical qualifications such as the 18th Edition plus a Level 3 solar PV award. Domestic systems are normally installed by MCS-certified companies, so ask which schemes the employer works under.
Can I get a solar installer job with no experience?
Yes, especially before the spring and summer season. Companies hire mates and train them. Put your CSCS card, any roofing or outdoor labouring history, your comfort at height, your driving licence status, and your availability for early starts on the CV. Those four items answer the team leader's real worries.
Is MCS worth putting on a CV?
Yes, if you word it correctly. MCS certifies companies, so write that you installed to MCS standards for an MCS-certified installer rather than calling yourself MCS certified. Your own qualifications, such as the Level 3 solar PV award and the 18th Edition, go in the qualifications block with the year, under their exact names.
How long should a solar installer CV be?
One page, always. If you have run teams for a decade, cut older roles to one line each and use the space for volume, quality results and the equipment brands you know. A second page does not get read in this trade.
Ready to write yours?
The builder suggests a summary from your own experience, then checks it against the job posting.
How this page was made: a first draft was written with AI assistance from cvplex's example library, then edited and fact-checked by the cvplex Careers Team. Examples are fictional composites; numbers are illustrative. Report an error via the editorial policy page.