Solar / PV Technician
Solar PV technicians install, test and repair photovoltaic (PV) panels, which turn sunlight into electricity, along with the batteries and the inverters that change the panels' power into the kind homes and the grid use. Solar is expected to create more energy transition jobs in South Africa this decade than any other sector, mostly on large solar farms in the Northern Cape, North West, Mpumalanga and Gauteng.
Jobs in the energy transition
Solar farm service technician
You'd inspect, test and repair the panels, inverters and cables on a large solar farm, safely switching off each section with the plant controller's permission before you work on it.
Rooftop solar installer
You'd plan and install solar panels, inverters and batteries for homes and businesses and come back to maintain them, although demand for home systems has dropped since its peak in mid-2023.
Extra training: A system connected to the grid needs a safety certificate signed by an electrician who is registered to sign one, so you'd work with one unless you qualify and register as one yourself.
Solar panel mounter
You'd work in an installation team that fixes solar panels and their frames securely to roofs or the ground, following a design drawn up by someone else and working safely at heights.
Solar battery technician
You'd test, maintain and replace the batteries, and the charge controllers that manage how they charge, in solar systems for homes, farms and sites that aren't connected to the grid.
How to get there
The qualifications
The main certificate is the Occupational Certificate: Solar Photovoltaic Service Technician, which is at NQF Level 5, one level above Matric. Some colleges also offer a smaller certificate for installing standalone solar systems, which is at NQF Level 4, the same level as Matric.
What you need to start
For the service technician certificate, the official minimum is Matric or another NQF Level 4 qualification with Mathematics, and for the standalone installer certificate it's an NQF Level 3 qualification with Mathematics, such as Level 3 of the National Certificate (Vocational) at a TVET college.
These are the official minimum requirements, and colleges can set higher ones.
Where you can study
Data verified June–July 2026 from official college publications and the DHET occupational qualifications register. Spot an error? Suggest a correction.
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