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Solar Panel Installation NVQ: Level 2 Photovoltaic Qualification
The qualification behind the Blue CSCS Skilled Worker card for solar PV installers, assessed on the roofs and frames you already fix panels to. Roof or ground mounted pathway, no electrical qualification needed, no college and no exam. Register any week and go at your own pace.
Why candidates choose Acadame
What makes our Level 2 NVQ Photovoltaic Panel Installation (Solar Panels) different
About this qualification
The Level 2 NVQ Diploma for the Installation of Photovoltaic Panels is the qualification GQA's card scheme lists for PV installers, and the proof of competence that solar companies and main contractors ask for from the people on the roof. It is not taught. It records, against the national occupational standards, the installation work you already do: confirming the job, handling and testing the panels before they go up, preparing the structure, fixing the mounting system and the panels, and handing over ready for connection. GQA are clear that it stops short of commissioning, so there is no requirement for an electrical qualification to achieve it.
It is awarded by GQA Qualifications on two pathways. The roof pathway is for installers on domestic and commercial buildings, and adds working at heights and at least 14 credits of fixing units: onto a roof, into a roof, or onto a non roof structure. The ground mounted pathway is for solar farms and other non roof structures, and builds fixing onto a non roof structure into the mandatory units. Both add at least one structure preparation unit, existing structure or new build, and at least one post installation or handover unit. The certificate carries the pathway and the Blue card is the same whichever you take.
Assessment is a portfolio of photographs, works orders, job sheets, RAMS and witness testimony from your own installs, an observation of you working and a professional discussion with your assessor, most of it from your phone and by video call. There is no fixed duration: you register any week and finish as quickly as your installs produce the evidence.
- Nothing new, if you are already fixing PV panels to a commercial standard. The qualification records what you do rather than teaching it
- How to evidence an install properly: what a photograph at each stage, a works order, a RAMS you followed and a witness testimony from the site manager each prove
- Which pathway your week evidences, roof or ground mounted, and which preparation and handover units give you the most credits for the least effort
- What the PV knowledge and asbestos cement units ask you to talk through in the professional discussion, and where the electrical connection sits outside the qualification
How completing this qualification helps you
- The Level 2 NVQ Diploma for the Installation of Photovoltaic Panels, certificated by GQA on the roof or the ground mounted pathway
- Eligibility for the Blue CSCS Skilled Worker card for PV installers, issued by GQA once you have passed the health and safety test, issued by GQA under their own CSCS card scheme
- A temporary CSCS card on registration, in case you need one while you complete
- A Level 2 that never expires, which is what solar companies, housebuilders and main contractors ask for before they let an installer on the roof
Who is it for?
Solar PV installers, PV technicians and roofers who fix panels, who learned on the job and hold no formal qualification, and anyone whose Blue card or old Industry Accreditation card has run out without a qualification behind it. GQA describe the candidate as working on customers' premises installing PV panels with job titles such as PV installer, installer or PV technician, needing minimum supervision. If you are the electrician who connects and commissions and someone else fixes the panels, this is not your qualification. If you carry panels and help and someone else fixes them, talk to us first, because you need enough of your own work to evidence.
Entry requirements. There are no formal entry requirements, and you do not need to be an electrician: the qualification stops short of commissioning. What you do need is live PV installation work to evidence from, because every unit is assessed on real jobs: your photographs, your works orders, your RAMS, your site manager's word. Most people are assessed on their normal week. The initial assessment below confirms this before you pay anything.
Ready to find out if you qualify?
The initial assessment takes a couple of minutes and nothing is typed: you click through what you do and what you can evidence, and it tells you the pathway, the level and what to gather. Or ask MB and get an answer straight away.
Initial assessment
Check you qualify, in a couple of minutes
Nothing to type. Click through what you do, the kind of PV installs you are on and what you can evidence, and it shows you the pathway that fits and the evidence your assessor will ask for. It is about what you can evidence, not a test: anything you cannot evidence yet is something we plan with you and your employer. These answers are your initial assessment, and you can email yourself a PDF of it.
The online check needs JavaScript. Without it, tell us what you do and we will run the initial assessment with you over the phone.
What you evidence
The units behind the qualification
Seven units are mandatory on the roof pathway, worth 29 credits, then at least 14 credits of fixing units, at least 3 credits of structure preparation and at least 3 credits of post installation and handover: 49 credits minimum. The ground mounted pathway has seven mandatory units worth 31 credits, including fixing onto a non roof structure, plus the same preparation and handover options: 37 credits minimum. It is a Diploma rather than a Certificate because it is the larger size of qualification, 37 credits or more, where a Certificate such as the Level 2 Glazing is 32. GQA list it at 265 guided learning hours and 490 hours total qualification time. Nothing is taught: each unit is evidenced from your own work, and your assessor confirms the exact unit list on registration.
The units every pathway completes
- J/502/9650 Maintain health and safety in the photovoltaic panel installation working environment (5 credits)
- A/600/7364 Communicating and working with others in the glass and related working environment (3)
- L/502/9651 Confirm PV panel installation requirement (3)
- L/502/9715 Knowledge of photovoltaic systems (6), a Level 3 knowledge unit covered in the professional discussion
- M/502/9724 Locate, test, handle and position photovoltaic panels prior to installation (6)
- PV9 Understanding the procedure to follow after the discovery of materials containing asbestos cement exposed during the PV installation process (2), a knowledge unit
- Roof pathway only: D/502/9721 Use access equipment to work at heights (4). Ground mounted pathway only: M/502/9688 Fix photovoltaic panels onto a non roof structure (6)
Roof mounted, domestic and commercial buildings
- At least 14 credits of fixing units from: K/502/9687 Fix photovoltaic panels onto a roof structure (8), M/502/9657 Fix photovoltaic panels into a roof structure (8), M/502/9688 Fix photovoltaic panels onto a non roof structure (6)
- Plus at least one preparation unit and at least one handover unit from the options below
- 49 credits minimum. The pathway most installers take: on roof and in roof systems on houses and commercial buildings
Ground mounted, solar farms and other non roof structures
- Fixing onto a non roof structure is mandatory on this pathway, and the working at heights unit is optional and appears on the certificate without replacing the options
- Plus at least one preparation unit and at least one handover unit from the options below
- 37 credits minimum. For solar farm, car port and frame mounted installers
Preparation and handover options, both pathways
- Preparation, at least 3 credits: PV8 Prepare the structure for photovoltaic panel installation, existing structure (5) or T/502/9275 Prepare the structure for photovoltaic panel installation, new build (3)
- Handover, at least 3 credits: H/502/9722 Post photovoltaic installation activities (3) or R/503/0400 Ensure the glass related installation is completed safely and handed over to the customer (5)
- Anything you evidence beyond the minimum is listed on the certificate as additional credits
Method of assessment
How the solar panel installation NVQ on-site assessment works
Competence based, which means no exam and no written test. You build a portfolio of evidence from the installs you are on, your assessor watches you work and you talk the knowledge through in a professional discussion, which is also where the two knowledge units are covered. The online check above is your initial assessment; there is no separate skills scan.
1. Initial assessment, online
The questions you click through above are your initial assessment. They tell us whether your work is roof or ground mounted, which fixing, preparation and handover units you can evidence, whether you have enough live work, and whether you are the person fixing the panels or the electrician connecting them.
2. Register with GQA
We register you with GQA on your pathway. That registration can also release a temporary CSCS card in case you need one, once we have your HS&E test result report, a passport style photograph and the right postal address.
3. Evidence from your own installs
Photographs of the work at each stage, from the roof survey and the structure prepared to the rails, the panels fixed and the finished array, works orders and job sheets, the system design or layout you worked to, panel delivery notes and the test readings you took before fixing, RAMS for the roof and the access equipment, witness testimony from the site manager or your supervisor, toolbox talks you signed, CoSHH sheets for sealants and fixings. Your assessor tells you exactly what each unit needs.
4. Workplace observation
Your assessor comes to the job and watches you install: checking the panels and the structure against the order, working from the access equipment, fixing the mounting system and the panels, and making the roof good, and records what they see against the standard.
5. Professional discussion
A recorded conversation about why you work the way you do. It covers the knowledge a photograph cannot show and the two knowledge units: how a PV system works and what is safe to handle before it is connected, roof structures and fixings, and exactly what you do if you uncover asbestos cement during the install.
6. Certificate, then the card
Internal quality assurance, then GQA issue the certificate. Pass the CITB Operatives test and apply to GQA for the Blue Skilled Worker card, valid five years.
After the qualification
Getting the Blue card, not just the certificate
The NVQ is only half of what the card scheme asks for. Since 2017 the CSCS cards for the glass and fenestration industry have been issued by GQA under the CSCS partner card scheme, not by CSCS direct, and GQA's scheme rules list Installer (Photovoltaic Panels) against this qualification. The Blue Skilled Worker card needs the Level 2 qualification and a pass in a health and safety test taken within the last two years, either the CITB Health, Safety and Environment test for Operatives or GQA's own test. Not the Specialist test, and not the Managers and Professionals test. We book the right one for you. GQA issue their own CSCS cards, so the certificate and the card both come from GQA, and the card carries the CSCS logo and is read on site like any other.
You do not have to wait for any of that to be on site. GQA issue a temporary CSCS card as soon as we register you, in case you need one while you complete, and post it to you direct. We pick up the cost. You give us your HS&E test result report, a passport style photograph and the exact postal address, because GQA send it once and we will not pay for it twice if the address is wrong. It is not a free Blue card: that follows the certificate.
- CITB Health, Safety and Environment test at Operatives level, or GQA's own test, booked with us
- Blue Skilled Worker card application, which we make to GQA for you, valid five years
- Temporary card on registration, in case you need one, posted by GQA
- Safe working at height alongside it if your sites ask for a separate certificate for the access equipment
Level 2 NVQ Photovoltaic Panel Installation (Solar Panels) FAQs
No. GQA's standard covers everything up to the point of commissioning and stops there, so there is no requirement for an electrical qualification to achieve it. It is the qualification for the person who prepares the structure, fixes the mounting system and the panels and hands over. The DC and AC connection and the commissioning sit with the electrician, and if you do both jobs we tell you what else you would need.
No. MCS certifies the installation company and its systems. This NVQ is proof of your own competence as the person fixing the panels, and it is the qualification GQA's card scheme lists for PV installers. Companies working under MCS often ask their installers to hold it, and it is what gets you the Blue card for site access.
No. There is no classroom and no exam. Everything is assessed on the installs you already do, through photographs and documents from your own jobs, an observation of you working and a professional discussion with your assessor. The two knowledge units, PV systems and asbestos cement, are covered in that discussion, not by a written test.
The one your installs already evidence. If most of your week is on roof or in roof systems on houses and commercial buildings, that is the roof pathway, with working at heights and at least 14 credits of fixing units. If you fix panels to ground mounted frames on solar farms, car ports or other non roof structures, that is the ground mounted pathway. Both need a preparation unit and a handover unit, the Blue card is the same whichever you take, and the initial assessment on this page works it out from what you click.
The Blue Skilled Worker card for PV installers, valid five years. For the glass and fenestration industry, which is where PV installation sits, the card is issued by GQA under the CSCS partner card scheme rather than by CSCS direct, and it carries the CSCS logo. You need the Level 2 certificate plus a pass in the CITB Health, Safety and Environment test for Operatives, or GQA's own health and safety test, within the last two years, then an application to GQA.
Yes, in case you need one. GQA issue a temporary card as soon as we register you and post it to you direct, at our cost. We need your HS&E test result report, a passport style photograph and the exact address to send it to. It is not a free Blue card: the Blue card follows the certificate.
Photographs of each install at stages, from the structure prepared to the rails, the panels fixed and the finished array, works orders and job sheets, the system layout you worked to, panel delivery notes and the readings you took before fixing, RAMS for the roof and the access equipment, witness testimony from the site manager or your supervisor, toolbox talk records, and the CoSHH sheets for sealants and fixings. Your assessor maps each one to a unit and tells you what is missing.
Yes, employers can be invoiced and can put a whole install team through as one booking. This qualification is currently listed as not eligible for CITB grant, so do not budget on one; where your employer is CITB registered we check what applies before you commit. Self employed installers pay direct, with interest free instalments if you want them.
£1,050 + VAT. That is the whole qualification: registration with the awarding body, your assessor, the visits, the portfolio and the certificate. There is no separate exam fee and no course fee on top, because there is no course to attend. The CSCS card is applied for separately and CSCS charge their own fee for it.
Yes, and for a solar PV installer already fitting panels who needs the qualification behind it that is the normal route. There is no set length. You are assessed on the work you are already doing, so the pace is set by how quickly the evidence comes together rather than by a timetable. People who already have photographs, job records and a supervisor who will sign a witness statement often finish inside a few weeks. Nobody is held back waiting for a term to start.
Your assessor comes to you, on your own jobs, in your own working week. They watch you work, take photographs, ask you why you did it that way, and record it against the units. Between visits you upload evidence and your assessor tells you what is still missing. There is no college, no classroom and no written exam.
There is no single licence to fit solar panels, but there are two things employers and clients look for. The first is a recognised qualification in the work itself: this Level 2 NVQ in the installation of photovoltaic panels is the on-site route to that, assessed on the systems you are already fitting. The second is site access, which means a CSCS card, and this qualification is the evidence CSCS want for the Blue Skilled Worker card. Electrical connection work is separate and stays with a qualified electrician. If you are working on domestic installations that need to be certificated for grants or export payments, the company you work for will also need its own scheme membership; that is a company registration, not a personal qualification.
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Putting several people through?
One assessor and one invoice for the whole team
Group registrations are common on frameworks and large sites. We assess on site so nobody leaves the project, and we handle the awarding body, the certificates and the cards in one place.