Electrical · Renewable Energy
Solar PV System Design & ROI
Intermediate 4 weeks 30-50 hours
Build and instrument a real small solar setup: panel, charge controller, battery, load. Log daily energy harvested and validate your ROI model against measured output.
Major
Electrical
Focus area
Renewable Energy
Total hours
30-50 hours
What you'll need
- 50W 12V monocrystalline solar panel
- PWM solar charge controller 20A 12V
- 12V 7Ah sealed lead acid rechargeable battery
- INA219 DC current voltage power monitor sensor module
- Arduino Uno R3 board with microSD card data logging module
- high power resistor assortment kit
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Steps
- Build a simple ROI model predicting daily energy output and payback for your setup.
- Connect the solar panel, charge controller, battery, and a resistor load.
- Wire the INA219 and Arduino data logger to measure the panel's output power.
- Log energy harvested every day for at least 2 weeks.
- Compare measured energy to your model's prediction and adjust your ROI estimate.
- Chart predicted vs. actual output and document the system for your portfolio.
What to photograph for your portfolio
- Solar setup photos
- daily energy harvest logs
- measured vs predicted output
- ROI analysis
Resume bullet starters
Copy one, then swap in your own numbers.
Engineered a solar PV system design & ROI using Solar system design, charge controllers, energy measurement
Applied financial analysis to implement, test, and validate the analysis end-to-end
Skills you'll show off
Solar system designcharge controllersenergy measurementfinancial analysis